When the economy began to fail in 2007 and EB-5 financing became an attractive option for developers, Wright says his phone began to ring more and more. “It took over and became our lives.
Riverside, CA (PRWEB) September 11, 2013
Founded in 2006, Wright Johnson has become one of the companies in the EB-5 industry, helping clients navigate through the complex process of forming regional centers by preparing economic reports to support their business plans. They have assisted with the creation of 40 regional centers and completed hundreds of studies for clients involved with EB-5.
When the economy began to fail in 2007 and EB-5 financing became an attractive option for developers, Wright says his phone began to ring more and more. “It took over and became our lives,” he says.
Wright Johnson performs regional economic impact studies for regional centers to determine job creation for projects, among other things. With job creation being the driving force behind EB-5, regional impact studies are required by USCIS. Wright states that the components of a report include determining the region and analyzing construction and operational aspects. He says, “First you’re going to determine the differences between the direct jobs and indirect jobs and you’re going to report those in the study to get an accurate job count, and then you’re going to look at drains on utilities, indirect business taxation, output for the given project and several other metrics that all go in to give a complete overview of the economic impacts that the project will create on the given region.”
Economic models used to help determine the regional impact include IMPLAN and RIMS II. Wright says USCIS will accept all models equally assuming the person running the model used it correctly.
When considering the number of jobs a project will create, Wright advises clients not use the maximum number of jobs they have projected. Instead he says, have a buffer. The overestimation of jobs that are projected but not actually created will have an adverse effect on investors and their families, like removal proceedings, for example. He says, “We always suggest a minimum of 25 percent and the larger the buffer, the better because if you’re wrong and you do make a mistake, that’s going to affect a lot of people’s lives and you want to have a margin of error there”
He also advises clients not to raise all of the money through EB-5 because it may make the project look less desirable compared to projects that are using just a portion of EB-5 capital for their projects.
Wright’s company offers a “Suite of Solutions” to streamline the process and package everything their clients need in one place. He describes the complete regional center package as a team comprised of an economist, business plan writer, immigration attorney and securities attorney.