FINANTA Receives $1.45 Million from CDFI Fund

FINANTA RECEIVES $1.45 MILLION FROM THE CDFI FUND
TO SUPPORT LOW-INCOME BUSINESSES IN PHILADELPHIA

Philadelphia, PA – Tuesday, August 7, 2012 – FINANTA

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) will be awarding a total of $186,853,456 to 210 organizations serving low-income communities throughout the United States. This represents the largest single announcement of award dollars and award recipients in the CDFI Fund’s history.

FINANTA is proud to be one of the 210 organizations selected to receive CDFI funding to support its Business Lending Program. The organization will receive $1.45 million to support the growth and expansion of small businesses in the City of Philadelphia. Over the next five years, FINANTA will provide business technical assistance and/or capital to over 455 entrepreneurs, helping to create or retain well over 500 jobs.

This is the second time FINANTA has received an award from the CDFI Fund.  In October 2011 FINANTA received $1.5 million to expand its first-time homebuyer mortgage program throughout the City of Philadelphia. Since then, FINANTA has funded 6 mortgages for low- to moderate-income families and has 19 in the pipeline.

“We are excited to be a CDFI Fund grant recipient for the second consecutive year and look forward to further expanding our small business lending throughout Philadelphia so that we can serve more low-income, low-wealth and under-banked entrepreneurs with much needed access to capital and business support services,” said Luis Mora, President of FINANTA. “This investment is vital for us and essential in stepping up our micro and small business lending activities.”

Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $1.7 billion in grants. Awards are granted through an annual competitive application process.

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About FINANTA
FINANTA is a non-profit community development financial institution (CDFI) that provides a wide range of financial products and services, including business loans and business technical assistance, mortgage counseling and mortgages, and financial literacy services to Philadelphia residents.  Founded in 1996, FINANTA has distinguished itself among the region’s micro and small business sector by delivering service in a way that is uniquely conscious of the cultural, social, and language barriers that minority and growing immigrant populations face. Our mission is to promote the growth and economic expansion of diverse Philadelphia communities though the infusion of capital with the provision of technical assistance and business consultation services.  In this effort, the financial products and services that FINANTA provides to underserved, low-income individuals aim to connect micro and small businesses with the resources needed to start, support or expand their business.  For more information about FINANTA, please contact Alyssa Ryan at Alyssaryan@finanta.org

About the CDFI Fund
Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded over $1.7 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through the CDFI Program, the Bank Enterprise Awards Program, the Capital Magnet Fund, the Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program, and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $33 billion in tax credit authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program. For more information, please visit their website.

About the CDFI Program
Through the CDFI Program’s Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance awards, the CDFI Fund invests in and builds the capacity of for-profit and non-profit community based lending organizations known as Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs. These organizations, certified as CDFIs by the U.S. Treasury Department, serve rural and urban low-income people and communities across the nation that lack adequate access to affordable financial products and services. Awards are granted through an annual competitive application process.

Additionally, in FYs 2011 and 2012, the Healthy Food Financing Initiative served as a supplemental funding opportunity under the CDFI Program for eligible CDFIs that expressed an interest in expanding their healthy food-focused financing activities and had received Financial Assistance awards. The Healthy Food Financing Initiative is an interagency initiative involving the CDFI Fund, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture that represents the federal government’s first coordinated step to increase the supply of and demand for nutritious foods in low-income urban and rural areas in the United States.