Innovative Financing Strategy Benefitting Low-Income Communities Qualifies NCB Capital Impact as Finalist for $8.25 Million Award
Community lender recognized for its innovative plan to bring needed funding to Detroit
WASHINGTON, DC (July 11, 2013)—NCB Capital Impact was selected as one of three finalists for the NEXT Opportunity Award for its compelling plan to expand its financing for individuals and families in low and moderate income communities. NCB Capital Impact’s mission is to help people and communities reach their highest potential at every state of life. Since its inception, Capital Impact has deployed nearly $1.9 billion nationwide to economically disadvantaged communities, including more than $70 million in Detroit.
The NEXT Opportunity Award is one of two awards made by the Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance. It is the nation’s largest awards program recognizing innovative community development financial institutions (CDFIs)—community lenders that invest in opportunities to benefit low-income, low-wealth, and other disadvantaged communities in the U.S.
The 2013 NEXT Awards will go to CDFIs that develop partnerships, business models, and other opportunities that expand access to financial products and services. The pool of $8.25 million may be awarded to any or all of the finalists.
Awardees will be announced in September and honored at an awards celebration on October 16 at Opportunity Finance Network’s (OFN’s) annual conference in Philadelphia, PA. OFN is the nation’s leading national network of performance-oriented CDFIs.
“We are very proud to be a finalist in the NEXT Opportunity Award,” said Terry Simonette, President and CEO of NCB Capital Impact. “The honor is an affirmation of the work that we do building innovative partnerships and recognition of the continued needs that exist in underserved communities and populations around the nation.”
Capital Impact has made substantial impact in the communities it already serves, and plans to expand that impact by bringing additional needed funding to meet growing demand for housing units and critical services in Detroit. To help catalyze economic revitalization and redensify the city’s urban core, Capital Impact has invested significant capital in projects to create affordable housing and retail space. One such project, financed with local partner Invest Detroit, is The Auburn. This project is a 56,000-square foot commercial and residential facility in the heart of Midtown Detroit, one of the growing parts of the city. The Auburn transformed a formerly vacant property into a neighborhood hub, providing affordable housing units and rental space targeted to the young professionals and students who live in Midtown. It provides 46 market-rate and 12 affordable rental housing units for the area’s young professionals and students, as well as 9,100 square feet of quality retail space.
“CDFIs have been successfully lending in disadvantaged communities for 30 years. They have succeeded in the areas where they already work, so we need to strengthen areas where they don’t. This is why the NEXT Awards recognizes those CDFIs with innovative expansion plans—to bring more affordable and responsible financial products and services to more distressed communities across the U.S.,” said Mark Pinsky, President and CEO of OFN.
The Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance are presented by Opportunity Finance Network with funding from Wells Fargo, The Kresge Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The NEXT Awards recognize CDFIs working to expand coverage in underserved communities.
More information about the NEXT Awards is available at www.nextawards.org.
###About NCB Capital Impact As a Congressionally chartered, District of Columbia, non-profit community development finance institution, Capital Impact provides financial services and technical assistance to help make high-quality health care, healthy foods, housing, and education more accessible and attainable, and eldercare more dignified and respectful. Capital Impact has used its depth of experience, cooperative approach, and diverse network of alliances to generate nearly $1.9 billion in critical investments that create a high quality of life for low income people and communities.www.capitalimpact.org
About The Awards The Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance celebrate the CDFI industry—its creativity, accomplishments, and enduring importance.
Launched in 2007, the NEXT Awards have celebrated the innovation of 30 of the nation’s most promising CDFIs by awarding $50.1 million through a competitive awards process over the last five years.
It is the nation’s largest awards program for CDFIs and will award $8.35 million dollars through two award pools—The NEXT Opportunity Award and the NEXT Seed Capital Award—annually from 2012-2016 to high-performing CDFIs to expand their coverage strategies. Each year the NEXT Awards culminates in a ceremony at OFN’s Annual Conference to spotlight Awardees and the entire CDFI industry.
About The Groups Behind The Awards
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.4 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, and the Internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in more than 35 countries to support the bank’s customers who conduct business in the global economy. With more than 270,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2013 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially.
The Kresge Foundation is a $3 billion private, national foundation that works to expand opportunities in America’s cities through grantmaking and investing in arts and culture, education, work in the environment, health, human services and community development efforts in Detroit. In 2012, the Board of Trustees approved 410 awards totaling $130.5 million; $150.3 million was paid out to grantees over the course of the year. For more information, visit kresge.org.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society. MacArthur has been a leading supporter of the Opportunity Finance field since the early 1980s, investing nearly $250 million in approximately 100 groups nationwide. More information is available at: www.macfound.org.
About Opportunity Finance Network (OFN): OFN, the leading network of private financial institutions, creates growth that is good for communities, investors, individuals, and the economy. Members of OFN are community development financial institutions (CDFIs) that deliver responsible lending to help low-wealth and low- income communities join the economic mainstream. Through 2011, OFN’s Network originated more than $30 billion in financing in urban, rural, and Native communities, and financed 940,000 housing units, 83,000 business and microenterprises, 9,000 community facilities. More information is available at: www.opportunityfinance.net.
