MassDevelopment.com: Press Room: $3.9 Million MassDevelopment Financing Package Supports New England College of Optometry and New England Eye Institute Expansion

$3.9 Million MassDevelopment Financing Package Supports New England College of Optometry and New England Eye Institute Expansion
February 21, 2007

Contacts:
Alicia Tildsley, MassDevelopment, 617-603-3120
Barry Wanger, New England College of Optometry, 617-236-6303

MassDevelopment today announced the issue of $3,910,000 in Commercial Paper Revenue Notes for The New England College of Optometry (NECO) and The New England Eye Institute in Boston. Proceeds from the issue will fund the school’s renovation of a new clinic on Commonwealth Avenue, the renovation of an academic and administrative building on Beacon Street, and the construction of an eye clinic in Roslindale, located within the Greater Roslindale Medical and Dental Center.

"We are pleased to support The New England College of Optometry’s expansion initiative," said Robert L. Culver, MassDevelopment president/CEO. "NECO is a world-class institution and an important leader in the study and advancement of optometry. These facility improvements will provide new academic opportunities for the college’s and institute’s scholars and researchers."

Established in 1894 and located in the Back Bay, the New England College of Optometry is a professional graduate institution specializing in education and research in the discipline of optometry. The College has more than 400 graduate students and 140 faculty members and staff. NECO prepares students from more than 30 states and countries for careers in patient care, research and education. The New England Eye Institute is the college’s clinical affiliate and provides care to more than 70,000 patients through its network of eye care centers and partnerships with neighborhood health care centers.

"The financing package structured by MassDevelopment and Citizen’s Bank will help NECO better prepare our future practitioners of optometry," said Elizabeth Chen, president of The New England College of Optometry.

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development authority, works with businesses, financial institutions and local officials to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. Between FY 2004 and FY 2006, MassDevelopment financed or managed 589 projects statewide representing an investment of more than $4 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are supporting the creation of 5,505 housing units and more than 23,000 jobs: 12,381 permanent and 10,679 construction-related.