Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government conducted a hearing on the impact of Community Development Financial Institutions. The video of the entire hearing is now available for online viewing and review.

Bob Jones, President and CEO of United Bank and Chairman of CDBA's Board of Directors, testified before the Subcommittee on the value of CDFI-certified banks and the community impact and effectiveness of the CDFI Fund's Bank Enterprise Awards. "The BEA Awards allowed us to present opportunities and continue to make loans to help people build credit," said Mr. Jones. "We all understand that until you get a credit score and you get into the mainstream financial system in America, you are operating off the grid. That's a place that's not sustainable to take advantage of all the opportunities we offer in this country for homeownership and upward mobility. So we see [the BEA Awards] as something critical to what we do."

Other witnesses included Annie Donovan, former CDFI Fund Director and Senior Fellow for the Center for Community Investment, Grace Fricks, President and CEO of Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, and Joe Neri, CEO of IFF.