News
Opportunity Zones, the brainchild of Silicon Valley's Sean Parker, provide investors massive tax advantages for investing in "distressed" areas. However, while the program's intent is to help those living in the zones, a huge influx of capital could also lead to these populations' displacement. Given that some investors may be more interested in the tax breaks than social impact, it may be that the financiers won't do much to prevent this. So where do things currently stand for all parties involved?
The DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment (OCTFME) has named Industrial Bank's U-Street location the city's Location of the Month. The designation promotes exemplary DC locales as prime settings for movie and television productions looking for filming locations. The bank recently underwent major renovations that helped it win this distinction, adds Melanee Woodard, Assistant Vice President of Industrial Bank, ""Now you can come in, sit down, have a complimentary coffee, talk with our team and experience all that comes with our service." Read more here.
As the successful re-entry of previously incarcerated citizens raises national focus, Industrial Bank seeks to become a leader in the movement. Recognizing the need for financial knowledge, at the beginning of 2018, Industrial Bank began financial literacy training within the walls of a DC Jail. By bringing awareness and financial knowledge to these communities, Industrial Bank hopes to support economic growth in their communities. "Industrial Bank's Financial Workshop ...was a much-needed resource to help our population build a pathway to the desired future that our young men want," said Earl J. Hollimon, DC Jail Program Analyst.
This week, small banks serving America's impoverished communities were recognized by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund with $25 million in Bank Enterprise Awards (BEA Awards) to a record-breaking 119 banks and thrifts headquartered in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Of the awardees, 61 are members of the Community Development Bankers Association (CDBA), who received a total of $13.8 million in awards (55 percent of the total award dollars).
Last month, Citizens National Bank received the 2018 Community Impact Award at the 22nd annual CRA & Fair Lending Colloquium in Hollywood, Fla. The award specifically recognized the bank's Power of Local Community Development Program, which helps the unbanked establish credit, improve credit scores, and secure affordable home loans. "Our vision is to assist our customers in creating a personal financial plan that enables them to achieve their dreams," said J. Scott Sills, Chief Marketing Officer at Citizens National Bank.
Rural businesses, especially startups and those operating on a shoestring, have long found it difficult to qualify for traditional bank loans. Now Hello Bello, a new app from 1st Southwest Bank CEO Kent Curtis, seeks to address that. The app provides a central database that combines numerous sources of financing open to an underserved business. "Hello Bello serves to mitigate risk for banks and open the complete capital stack for small businesses," Curtis said. "This can be transformational in the way capital is deployed in rural communities."
Annie Donovan has officially announced her departure from the CDFI Fund. During her five years as director, Donovan oversaw tremendous growth in the agency's funding and programming and the largest ever CDFI Program award round. Donovan leaves the Fund in good hands, however. Her replacement, Jodie Harris, joins the Fund from the Department of Treasury where she serves as Director of Small Business, Community Development, and Housing Policy. Harris previously ran the BEA program and served as an adviser to former CDFI Fund Director Donna Gambrell.
The Cato Institute's Diego Zuluaga recently suggested that the best approach to the Community Reinvestment Act would be its elimination. Nikitra Bailey offers her rebuttal in American Banker. The CRA was initially created in response to redlining, a practice in which banks refused to lend to low-to-moderate income neighborhoods, including communities of color. Thus, Nikitra argues, CRA has played an integral role in fighting this by expanding investment and access to credit for communities with a history of underservice by banks. Read her full argument here.
Last month, FM Bank held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new location that will open next year. The 2,816 square-foot full-service banking facility will have a three-lane drive thru, a drive-up ATM, and a night deposit box. The branch will be located at the intersection of Farmington Road and County Road 166. "Our banks take pride in the communities where we are located," said President and CEO John Haynes. "Making our communities the best they can be is one of our daily goals as a community bank."
President Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. The Council will be chaired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, and comprised of 13 Federal agencies. The new group will engage with all levels of government on ways to better use taxpayer dollars to revitalize low-income communities and improve efforts by streamlining, coordinating, and targeting existing Federal programs to economically distressed areas, including Opportunity Zones.