Specialized financing unlocks capital to construct a new flour mill in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
(PENDLETON, OR and PORTLAND, OR – October 15, 2025) – A group of three community development entities, including Ecotrust CDE, CEI Capital Management, and DV Community Investment LLC, have closed $31 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) capacity for Cairnspring Mills to build a new flour mill in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The new Blue Mountain Mill facility will create more than 20 local living-wage jobs on tribal land in rural Oregon, while providing a market for area grain farmers, and returning revenue to the Tribe for community projects. Of the total allocation, Ecotrust CDE contributed $15 million to the effort.
The Blue Mountain Mill will expand Cairnspring’s production capacity twelvefold – from under 7 million pounds to 110 million pounds annually – and create more than 20 local living-wage jobs, positioning the Pacific Northwest at the forefront of a new craft flour economy. Their approach provides reliable market access for local agriculture while promoting practices like no-till farming that help ensure farmland productivity.
“This project represents the second NMTC investment made by Ecotrust CDE with the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation,” said Olivia Rebanal, President of Ecotrust CDE. “Our first investment provided critical support for educational facilities. Alongside employment opportunities for Tribal members, this allocation will diversify Tribal revenue that supports the myriad health, culture, natural resources, and housing programs administered for Tribal members. It is an honor to partner with the Umatilla in their vision for community development.”
Ecotrust CDE is a subsidiary of Ecotrust, a nonprofit focused on advancing economic, environmental, and social well-being throughout the region. Ecotrust CDE focuses its New Markets Tax Credits investments on supporting businesses, infrastructure, and facilities that uplift rural and tribal communities.
“Investing in rural manufacturing creates opportunities beyond the factory floor,” said CEI Capital Management, LLC (CCML) CEO Traci Vaine. “This project honors tribal heritage while empowering local farmers and communities. Through cooperation among multiple partners, we’re cultivating an ecosystem that lifts entire communities.”
CCML invests in rural manufacturing projects that revitalize core industries or support emerging sectors. The investment in the Cairnspring Mills’ Blue Mountain project aligns with CCML’s focus to bring critically needed private investment to deeply distressed rural areas, where access to capital is limited or non-existent.
“This partnership represents everything we believe in- proving that we can build a food system with a triple bottom line of profitability, human health, and environmental sanity,” said Kevin Morse, Co-Founder and CEO of Cairnspring Mills. “It starts with the farmer, and it starts with the wheat. By stone-milling identity-preserved, regeneratively grown grains, we’re pioneering the craft flour movement while bringing value back to the community and the farmers who steward the land.”
About CEI Capital Management
CEI Capital Management works nationally to connect new and existing rural manufacturing companies with flexible capital through the Federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program and the Maine New Markets Capital Investment (NMCI) Program so they can build good jobs that provide living wages, comprehensive benefits and opportunities for training and advancement. Since 2004, CCML has placed $1.12 billion of NMTC/NMCI capacity in 106 projects. Learn more at www.ceicapitalmgmt.com
About Ecotrust CDE
Ecotrust CDE is a wholly-owned nonprofit subsidiary of Ecotrust. Through our CDE, we leverage New Markets Tax Credits to advance economic, environmental, and social well-being throughout rural and tribal communities. Since its inception, Ecotrust CDE has invested $427 million—leveraging nearly $1 billion in private investment—across 45 businesses and projects, with a majority located in tribal or rural areas. Fifty percent (or $20 million) of our most recent award will be committed to projects on tribal reservations, off-reservation trust lands, Hawaiian Home Lands, and Alaska Native Villages. Learn more at ecotrust.org
About Cairnspring Mills
Cairnspring Mills is pioneering the craft flour movement with a mission to rebuild food systems, support farmers, and nourish communities with clean, healthy, flavorful grains and flour. Founded in Washington’s Skagit Valley in 2016, the company partners directly with Pacific Northwest growers who use regenerative practices that restore soil health and long-term farm viability. Every lot of grain is identity-preserved, stone-milled in small batches, and crafted to retain the bran and germ, resulting in flour that is fresher, naturally nutritious, and alive with flavor. By proving flour can be full of flavor and economically resilient, Cairnspring offers a new model for 21st-century food production—one that regionalizes supply chains, restores ecosystems, contributes to community resilience and shares value more equitably across farmers, bakers, and communities. For more information, visit cairnspring.com or follow along on Instagram.