East Idaho Times

U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia), co-chairs of the Community Development Finance Caucus, along with U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, held an event at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to mark the two-year anniversary of the Economic Opportunity Coalition (EOC). The event also celebrated new deposit commitments from companies including BNY, Google, KKR, and VISA. This follows last week’s announcement that Exelon Corporation, Edison International, and Southern Company have joined a procurement pledge to expand opportunities for small and historically underutilized companies.

“CDFIs are necessary for those outside the financial mainstream to gain self-sufficiency,” said Sen. Crapo. “This announcement is another step forward in the goal of CDFIs supporting new and innovative approaches to spurring economic growth and access to capital in underserved communities. I applaud the buy-in from the financial sector as Coalition members continue to support public-private partnerships that empower small businesses.”

“In only two years, the Economic Opportunity Coalition has made historic strides to sync our tremendous progress on CDFIs with the tremendous resources of the banking and corporate world,” said Sen. Warner. “As the EOC continues to grow and unlock billions more in investments, it’s clear that we’re bound for even more progress on getting capital to underserved communities across America. I look forward to continuing to work alongside the EOC and maintaining our strong legislative momentum in the Senate on this deeply important priority.”

“Expanding access to capital is key to creating economic opportunity for all communities,” said Adeyemo. “Community lenders have received historic levels of public and private support during the Biden-Harris Administration, and Economic Opportunity Coalition investments are helping small businesses grow and hire nationwide. The Treasury Department looks forward to continuing to work with leading U.S. companies to put additional commitments to work in communities across the country.”

“Today, I am pleased by the continued support for the EOC’s deposits initiatives provided by our members,” said Christopher Weaver, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Coalition. “The additional deposits announced today are another important milestone for the EOC, and we could not have achieved it without the committed support of our members. I thank all our partners for continuing to work with us, and look forward to building on the achievements announced today as we strive to build and grow our deposits commitments as a means of wealth creation opportunities for underserved individuals, businesses, and communities.”

The event follows a June 2023 announcement that secured $1 billion in committed deposits in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) aimed at expanding their lending power for underserved communities and small businesses.

In recent years, Crapo and Warner have led efforts to enhance CDFI lending capacity. They secured a record $12 billion federal investment as part of a bipartisan COVID relief package approved by Congress at the end of 2020. Additionally, they lead a bipartisan group known as the Community Development Finance Caucus comprising 26 senators—13 Democrats and 13 Republicans—that coordinate efforts to support CDFI funding nationwide. They also advocate comprehensive legislation such as the Scaling Community Lenders Act aimed at unlocking more liquidity sources for CDFIs.

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