Tennessee financial institutions receive nearly $56.3 million to help underserved
The funding comes through the Equitable Recovery Program administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The recipients will use the federal dollars to expand lending, grant-making, and investment activities in low- or moderate-income communities.
Seventeen Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) across the Volunteer State were among 603 across the country that were awarded a total of $1.73 billion through the Equitable Recovery Program (ERP) administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
In the case of Tennessee, the 17 CDFIs received a total of almost $56.3 million with the largest awards of $4,957,678 each going to six institutions, none in East Tennessee. The six are:
- Southeast Community Capital Corporation, which does business as Pathway Lending and recently announced a partnership with several local banks to launch the 865 Opportunity Fund (see teknovation.biz article here);
- Carroll Bank and Trust in Huntingdon;
- Centennial Bank in Trezevant;
- INSOUTH Bank in Brownsville;
- Security Bancshares Inc. in Paris; and
- Wayne County Bank in Waynesboro.
Three East Tennessee-based CDFIs received $2,478,839 each. They are:
- Appalachian Community Federal Credit Union in Gray;
- Copper Basin Federal Credit Union in Gray; and
- Y-12 Federal Credit Union in Oak Ridge.
ERP is a competitive grant program designed to provide funding to CDFIs to expand lending, grant-making, and investment activities in low- or moderate-income communities, which have significant unmet capital and financial services needs and have experienced disproportionate economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. It will also enable CDFIs to build organizational capacity and acquire technology, staff, and other tools necessary to accomplish these goals.
