Diode Dynamics is a manufacturer of aftermarket automotive LED lighting products. They directly design, engineer, validate, manufacture, and distribute LED lighting to consumers looking for styling and performance upgrades for their vehicle.

The company used NMTC financing to construct a new facility and hire additional staff in manufacturing, engineering, and administrative areas. This is allowing the company to offer products for more vehicle makes and models, increasing its market share and sales in the automotive lighting industry.

Thanks to the NMTC financing, Diode Dynamics expects to create 86 new jobs and maintain 84 jobs in engineering & design, production, warehousing, marketing, sales, and customer service. Approximately 70% of the jobs will be quality jobs that pay a living wage with employer benefits, professional development, and advancement opportunities. Approximately 60% of the jobs will be accessible to those with no more than a high school or equivalent education, overcomes transportation barriers through location along public transit, provides onboarding or apprenticeship programs to enable recruiting and retention of low-skilled workers, and/or targets hiring efforts to groups who face specific barriers to employment, including returning citizens and long-term unemployed persons. Additionally, about 20% of the jobs will be filled with minority persons.

Wahkiakum West Television, Inc. (“WWest”) used NMTC financing to build out an ultra-high-speed fiber-optic broadband network to provide essential broadband services and deliver digital equity to extremely rural and low income areas of Southwestern Washington State.

The pandemic of 2020 and 2021 exposed the glaring lack of acceptable broadband services to many areas of Southwestern Washington where folks could not work from home, kids could not keep up with their schooling, residents could not connect to essential telemedicine options, and the local economy suffered.

The project areas are extremely high cost due to challenging terrain, low density of homes per mile, dominated by low income residents, and a lack of significant businesses.

As a long-time business leader, WWest consulted with the state Broadband Action Teams for the area, community leaders, government leaders, and community activists to design a plan to expand access to fiber-optic broadband throughout areas lacking adequate access.