NMTC Investment Brings a New Teen Center to West Central Missouri
Overview: Boys & Girls Club of West Central Missouri
Sedalia, Missouri - a vibrant rural community in the heart of West Central Missouri - is experiencing an exciting transformation. In recent years, the region has welcomed a manufacturing boom that is reshaping its economic landscape and creating new opportunities for residents. As advanced manufacturing facilities expand and diversify throughout the area, Sedalia stands at a pivotal moment: poised to connect its young people with the high-quality jobs and bright futures that this growth promises.
The Boys & Girls Club of West Central Missouri is stepping forward to meet this moment head-on. The organization is moving forward with a new 30,454-square-foot Teen Center, made possible through New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) investment. This state-of-the-art facility will serve junior high and high school students during the critical after-school hours, offering a safe, structured place to learn, connect, and grow, while also preparing them to seize the career opportunities emerging right in their own backyard. This is more than a building; it's a bridge between today's potential and tomorrow's prosperity for Sedalia's youth.
Why This Project Matters:
A Safe and Supportive Environment
West Central Missouri is full of hardworking families, but many teens face steep barriers. In Pettis County, nearly 1 in 5 children lives in poverty, and 16.6% experience food insecurity. Almost half of students are economically disadvantaged, and some Sedalia neighborhoods see poverty rates nearing 39%. These conditions create gaps in opportunity and reinforce the need for strong community resources that give teens a fair chance.
The Teen Center will provide academic support, leadership development, mentoring, and social-emotional programming in a trauma-informed setting. These programs will help them build confidence, stability, and meaningful relationships.
Building Career Pathways
A major focus of the center is preparing teens for high-demand, high-wage careers ranging from $20-28 per hour, particularly in manufacturing, welding, machining, logistics, and industrial maintenance. Through partnerships with technical schools, employers, and unions, teens will benefit from, hands-on technical training, industry-recognized certifications, job shadowing and mentoring, and professional skills development. These opportunities connect teens directly to stable careers while addressing workforce shortages across the region.
Community Impact
The Teen Center will serve up to 500 teens each year, helping them stay engaged in school, make positive choices, and build skills for long-term success. By investing in youth and workforce development, this NMTC-supported project will strengthen families, support regional employers, and create lasting economic impact for Sedalia and the surrounding communities. This NMTC investment is more than a building—it is a strategic, community-wide commitment to giving young people the tools and pathways they need to thrive.
Steadfast’s Commitment to Impact-Driven Development
New Markets Tax Credits is a niche industry where relationships and aligned marketing drive much of the investment decisions. Steadfast City has been successfully socializing NMTC projects for for-profit and non-profit entities across the United States since 2019. From research through to compliance, we stick with our clients for the totality to their project scope, engaging with outside professional accountants and tax experts to ensure the holistic integrity of our fund development projects. We represent our NTMC clients at conferences, identifying the best-aligned investors and CDEs and marketing project initiatives as if they were our own. Our firm’s name ends in “Partners”, not consultants, because during the NMTC process we walk hand-in-hand with our clients, becoming their teammates and championing their community-building initiatives.
Does this project sound similiar to yours?
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