Good afternoon, everyone! My name is Pat Deon. Early in my career, I served as the Chairman of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), which is the fifth-largest transportation authority in the United States, with an annual revenue of 1.2 billion USD and a daily ridership of 1 million. During my tenure at SEPTA, I began to get involved with EB-5, and about three years ago, I conducted a 1.75 billion USD EB-5 project. The project was a great success, and I grew to appreciate the efficiency of the EB-5 financing method.
During my time as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, I introduced this innovative financing method to our projects. After communicating with DVRC and WorldWay, we decided to finance the project through the EB-5 program. This project costs 416 million USD, which was made possible by the support of members of Congress and the efforts of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
One of our major advantages is that the toll road generates 855 million USD in annual revenue, and toll fees continue to grow annually. Every year, we borrow between 450 million USD and 800 million USD within our system, and the Turnpike Commission has an A+ credit rating. This time, we plan to raise 200 million USD through EB-5 for the I-95 Interchange project; this financing method is highly efficient. We have no issues with repayment, as we can issue bonds in the bond market to repay the funds. This project can create over 5,300 jobs, and it is precisely the professional involvement of the DVRC Regional Center and WorldWay that has allowed the project to proceed smoothly.
Thank you all.
