Travois New Markets helped the Pascua Yaqui Tribe secure NMTC financing for its new $8.7 million education center that broke ground in December 2011. Wells Fargo provided $2.4 million in New Markets Tax Credit equity for the project, which helps fund a nearly 40,000 sq. ft. two-story education center. The tribe saw a great need for a state-of-the-art education center as it continued to see its students lag behind their counterparts in other ethnic groups in literacy and math but had been unable to begin building the center because of a financing gap that remained after grants and tribal funds were raised.

The Pascua Yaqui Education Center provides instruction for multiple generations, including secondary, General Education Development (GED) and adult continuing education students, who will flourish under one roof and receive culturally appropriate education. Highlights of the center include an extensive Library and Resource Center, the technology-based education program called Tech Ania (Yaqui word meaning “world”) and a cultural preservation center. The education center also hosts community engagements.