EB-5 center eyes creation of hundreds of R.I. jobs

DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Henry M. Diamond, president and co-founder of Pathway Capital Partners LLC, said the most important way to market is through a network of “global alliances.” / COURTESY PATHWAY CAPITAL
DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH: Henry M. Diamond, president and co-founder of Pathway Capital Partners LLC, said the most important way to market is through a network of “global alliances.” / COURTESY PATHWAY CAPITAL

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services this past fall designated Pathway Capital Partners, LLC as Rhode Island’s first regional EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program center. The center is allowed to broker investments in Rhode Island projects from foreign nationals seeking permanent residence in the U.S.
The EB-5 program provides green cards to foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in U.S. projects that produce 10 or more permanent jobs. Regional centers handle nearly all of the investments in the program. The centers are permitted to bundle EB-5 investments and count indirect jobs toward project eligibility.
Henry M. Diamond is Pathway’s president and co-founder. He’s in a position to help infuse capital in economic-development projects around the state, with the added benefit of creating jobs in a state desperately in need.

PBN: To what extent do you and your firm, Pathway Capital Partners, LLC, specialize not only in financial-investment planning but EB-5 program development?
DIAMOND: We feel it represents a tremendous opportunity for job creation in Rhode Island. Unlike a traditional investment vehicle, the mandate for the foreign investor is job creation, not so much the return on investment. The mandate is 10 jobs per investor and we’re kind of a gatekeeper. We make sure the money is received by the project we designate and that project creates jobs. After a five-year period, the investor exits with a visa and a return on their investment.

PBN: How did the idea to establish a regional center in Rhode Island come about?
DIAMOND: The first reason is that we had researched EB-5 over the last 3½ years. I am also a principal of HDC Inc., and as a principal, we were looking for alternative channels of capital and that’s what prompted investigating the EB-5. We heard a lot of talk about it, but two years ago when we decided to apply for one there was no program in the state of Rhode Island and we couldn’t figure out why.

PBN: What are the next steps?
DIAMOND: In education, Pathway Capital Partners LLC and International Education Partners LLC recently entered into an agreement to fund a portion of IEP’s expansion with the use of EB-5 capital. IEP is a dynamic business model in language education that addresses a growing need for the foreign markets.

PBN: Why did you choose the medical-research sector as an area of focus?
DIAMOND: The medical-research cluster is very important to us considering the valuable educational institutions we have in the state. We’re looking at participating in a project such as the Dynamo House, which includes multiple educational institutions. We’re just in negotiations.

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PBN: How exactly do you facilitate these connections and what legal instruments are used to secure commitments?
DIAMOND: To facilitate the process our firm will work with the project developer to create EB-5- compliant-offering documents and necessary information for the foreign investor. We also analyze the feasibility of job creation through econometric modeling. It is structured like traditional private- investment vehicles, but has to comply with the nuances of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service requirements.
We have alliances with business partners all over the world. They range from energy companies, media and educational consulting companies and other professional-services companies. … They have relationships that over the last two years have been inquiring as to what they would recommend for EB-5 investments in the U.S.

PBN: How do you intend to market the EB-5 program and, as a result, the state?
DIAMOND: The most important way to market is through our network of global alliances. … These professionals are traveling several times a year to their respective countries and we keep them well-stocked with offering information. … Then we would proceed with direct follow-up with the potential investor.

PBN: A spokesman for High Rock Development LLC, which owns the “Superman Building,” confirmed in late November having had superficial discussions with program proponents. A city streetcar has also been discussed as something that could be financed with foreign investment. Where do these projects stand?
DIAMOND: There have been really high-level conversations of defining the fate of the Superman Building. … There are ongoing discussions [which] have been extremely preliminary. Pathway is engaging discussions for the downtown streetcar project through the City Council and its president, Michael Solomon.

PBN: What will this program do for Rhode Island as a whole?
DIAMOND: With the educational institution and hospitality projects, we’re in agreements by the end of this year to have projects that will create [more than] 200 direct and indirect jobs for Rhode Island workers. We hope to increase that fivefold through other project offerings through 2014. •

INTERVIEW
HENRY M. DIAMOND
POSITION: President and co-founder of Pathway Capital Partners LLC
BACKGROUND: Diamond has more than 25 years of experience in the investment banking, insurance and securities industries. Before founding Pathway Capital Partners with a silent partner in 2011, he was an independent financial consultant and president of HDC Inc. in Providence from 2002 to 2010. He served as managing director and principal of DuPont Securities Group in New York, N.Y., running Rhode Island operations, from 1994 until 2000.
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree in managerial economics from Rhode Island College, 1984; Juris Doctor from University of Massachusetts School Of Law, 1997; attended University of Denver and the University of Caen, France
FIRST JOB: Stock broker
AGE: 54
RESIDENCE: Providence

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