Recent News
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.
When Stephanie Shimp's restaurant business was on the verge of financial disaster, Sunrise Banks stepped in to help them through the use of SBA-backed loans. "There may be something that prevents the loan from being done conventionally," says Chris Albrecht, Sunrise Bank's senior vice president and SBA manager. "The hope is that these [SBA] loans will transition into conventional financing." And for Shimp, they did exactly that. "We have grown really because of and through this SBA product," she explains. "It's a real company now." Read more here.
1st Southwest Bank customer Animas Chocolate Company has revolutionized the world of chocolate for Durango locals. The shop specializes in both bean-to-bar chocolate and fine chocolate mixes such as hot chocolate, truffles, and more. Owners Carley and Marc have taken dessert-making to a whole new level, making tasty and enjoying sweets an experience anyone will want to share. Recently, the bank reached out to the owners to get their take on what it's like running their unique business. Read more here.
Tiffany Stone set out to change her community for the better. So, she began at BankPlus. She started as the Banking Center head teller then quickly moved on to become a branch manager and senior universal banker. "The coolest part of my career is to be a part of the future of banking," Stone said. "Our branches are the future of banking with ITM: Interactive Teller Machines. This is where a live person takes care of all your transactions through our Interactive Teller Machine just like you would at any teller window at any bank. Our branches are not your typical branch... Read more
Sunrise Banks serves two distinct client groups — underserved communities and fintech. And for Chairman and CEO David Reiling, finding innovative ways to have the two efforts support each other is the way to move forward. "We want to be the preferred fintech bank," says Reiling. "We want venture capital companies to say, 'Oh, you bank with Sunrise? OK, I'll invest in your fintech.' Because they'll know they have a chance to be successful." Read the full American Banker interview here.
Earlier this month, BankFirst announced an expansion of its business banking solutions to offer SBA 7a, and 504 loans to small business owners throughout Mississippi and Alabama. With a retail branch network in central Mississippi and Alabama, BankFirst's entrance into SBA lending will allow the bank to better serve its existing communities as well as develop a southeastern presence to offer loan products that help small business owners who may not qualify for conventional loans. Walter W. Dyminski has been hired to lead the bank's Small Business Administration (SBA)... Read more
Cities and towns all over the country are implementing innovative tactics to invigorate and revitalize their communities. On Dec. 13th, LOCUS' parent company Virginia Community Capital (VCC) will hold a conversation about these place-based trends with Bruce Katz, author of "The New Localism" and former Centennial Scholar at the Brookings Institute, and Erika Poethig, Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer of Urban Institute. The session will be moderated by Craig Carper, News Director of 88.9 WCVE Public Radio.
Durham, N.C. was once known nationally for its "Black Wall Street," a cluster of flourishing black-owned financial institutions and businesses. In the 1960s that energy dissipated in the wake of urban development, but still the city held on to a large number of black owned businesses. Now, propelled by a national fellowship program, the city of Durham is building a plan and a set of tools to help preserve black-owned businesses in the face of an aging baby boomer generation, a new knowledge economy, and 21st-century business model shifts that traditional entrepreneurs may ignore.
The OCC received more than 1,300 comments on its advance notice of proposed rulemaking asking for responses on how to expand the 1977-era CRA, which grades banks on lending to low-to moderate-income communities in their branch networks. Opinions about the proposed rulemaking notice vary. Many in the industry have lauded the step taken by the agency, which insists it was merely trying to gather feedback. But some stakeholders say the agency's questions reflected its policy leanings.
Money worries are a top concern for American workers, with the stress often distracting them from the job. As a result, companies are realizing the need to provide better financial literacy and services for their employees. To support this need, Spring Bank has recently begun partnering with businesses to offer its Employee Opportunity Loan program. The program provides loans to employees at participating companies of up to $2,500 with no minimum credit score requirement as alternative to payday loans and other high-interest financial options.
CDBA is proud to announce that the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has funded CDBA's Small Business Impact at Scale Initiative with a $500,000 grant. The initiative, in partnership with Partners for the Common Good (PCG), focuses on building the capacity of CDFI banks to measure, assess, and communicate the impact of their small business lending. With the grant, the initiative will expand to help CDFI banks identify common business impact indicators, provide shared training and exchange of best practices, and pilot new models for efficient data collection on their over $4 billion in business loans... Read more
Pedro Bryant, Chairman, President, and CEO of Metro Bank, has been elected to the board of directors of the American Bankers Association (ABA). The new board was announced on October 23, 2018 at the ABA National Convention in New York City. "I am honored to have been elected to the board of directors," said Bryant. "This is an exciting time for the banking industry and the ABA is leading the way in helping shape policy decisions that impact banks and the communities they serve."
Low-income communities across the country are set to benefit from a new federal rule designed to encourage economic development. Tax benefits will accrue to investors who put money into projects located in thousands of districts designated as Opportunity Zones. This in turn could stimulate more construction lending at a time when overall CRE lending has stagnated. Projects that otherwise would not get a second glance may now be appealing, said Roger Shumway, chief credit officer at the $1.3 billion-asset Bank of Utah in Ogden. "I see it opening up some areas that we haven't had before,"... Read more
Amalgamated Bank will begin tracking the carbon emissions it is financing through its $3.4 billion loan portfolio, using as a guide the science that would limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, which is the goal of the Paris accord. Amalgamated, whose largest shareholder is the Workers United union, will also start measuring the carbon profile of new potential debt issues, as a way to evaluate borrowers' exposure to potential future carbon constraints. Amalgamated plans to work with the Global Alliance for Banking on Values to develop a carbon-accounting system similar to one used by... Read more
From October 24th-25th, CDBA hosted its first Mississippi Delta bus tour. Over 70 people representing the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and local CDFI banks and housing associations were in attendance. The bus tour included site visits of highly distressed communities in the Delta, LIHTC neighborhoods, a manufactured housing production facility, rehabilitated historical apartment complexes, and more. The subsequent roundtable discussion in Indianola brought together federal and local stakeholders to discuss the state of single family housing, multifamily housing... Read more
The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions has changed its name to Inclusiv. The Inclusiv name grows out of the organization's commitment to financial inclusion and its dedication to ensuring access to responsible financial products and services delivered at an affordable cost in a fair and transparent manner. The announcement was made at the organization's Annual Conference in Clearwater, Florida. "Inclusiv will build on the 44 year legacy of the Federation to grow the visibility and impact of mission-driven credit unions," said Cathie Mahon, Inclusiv President and CEO... Read more
Sullivan Progress Plaza was the nation's first shopping center operated by African Americans when it was built in 1968 under the direction of the late Rev. Leon Sullivan. Additionally, United Bank of Philadelphia, the city's only African-American owned bank, has operated a branch in the center since 1999 and is one of the plaza's oldest tenants. "Progress Plaza has really been our mainstay," said Evelyn Smalls, president and CEO of United Bank. "It meant a lot to bank being there and at the same time having accessibility to clients that we were attempting to bring into the... Read more
Carver Federal Savings Bank was founded in 1948 with a mission to serve African Americans who were shut out of mainstream financial services. Over the past seven decades as a historically minority-managed community bank, Carver has experienced firsthand the benefits of diversity throughout all levels of its organization. Today, the bank boasts eight branches across New York City, including four in Brooklyn, three in Manhattan and one in Queens, as well as a robust mobile banking platform.
The Treasury Department will soon outline rules stemming from the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul last year that are aimed at giving investors confidence to pour billions of dollars into distressed areas. Investment banks, venture capitalists, and real estate developers have been eagerly awaiting guidance for so-called opportunity zones. These zones are identified to attract capital to areas where investment has lagged by allowing investors to avoid some taxes when they fund projects there. But critics have warned that this could just hasten gentrification and serve as a tax shelter for wealthy... Read more
The financial crisis and recession of 2008 made the availability of capital a significant concern for community banks and led many to seek out additional sources to rebuild their equity. The need for capital may have been even greater for some minority-owned financial institutions, as the markets they serve were hit especially hard by the financial crisis in 2008. This report explores the many recapitalization efforts at minority-owned financial institutions. This allows readers to better understand how some minority banks succeeded in raising new capital, and to identify the trends and... Read more