PRESS RELEASE
08/02/11
Contact: Jeanne Molinari, (703) 647-2316

NCB Capital Impact Chosen as Finalist for
$5.5 Million in Wachovia Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance

Capital Imapct vies for millions in financing in the awards program for industry innovation and responsible lending 

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 2, 2011) — The nation’s largest and most prestigious awards program for community development financial institutions (CDFIs) announced today that NCB Capital Impact is a finalist for an award of $5.5 million in the highly competitive 2011 Wachovia Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance. Awardees will be announced in October and celebrated at an awards celebration on Tuesday, November 15, at Opportunity Finance Network’s (OFN’s) 27th Annual Conference in Minneapolis, MN.

Capital Impact’s mission is to help people and communities reach their highest potential at every stage of life. Since inception, Capital Impact has lent $1.6 Billion:

  • $197 million for 35,100 units of multifamily homeownership or other affordable housing
  • $500 million for high-quality charter school facilities creating 200,000 more school seats
  • $552 million for community health centers creating 2.962 million more square feet of community health center space that provide 1,104,381 patient visits annually
  • $53 million for healthy food financing in over 60 locations
  • $136 million for other community development enterprises
  • 9,000 affordable assisted living units for seniors and persons with disabilities
  • 26,402 jobs for low-income individuals.

"Being a finalist for The Wachovia Wells Fargo NEXT Awards from Opportunity Finance is a tremendous affirmation of the work we already do, as well as an indication of the need for better solutions to care for our burgeoning population of elders as they age," commented Terry Simonette, President & CEO of NCB Capital Impact. "The Green House Project is a ground-breaking initiative, and greater support for the Green House Financing Fund will allow us to expand the benefits of this successful, high quality model of long term care to many more low-income elders across the nation,” Simonette added.

The aim of The Wachovia Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance is to propel community development financial institutions (CDFIs) to a next level of growth, success, and staying power so they have even greater capacity to innovate, drive positive policy and systems change, and deliver tangible benefits to their communities. CDFIs are market-based, private sector financial intermediaries that create opportunities for low-wealth, low-income, and other disadvantaged individuals and institutions and spark growth in distressed markets across the nation.
 
“The NEXT Awards celebrate CDFIs that produce tangible impacts in the communities they serve,” explained Mark Pinsky, President and CEO of Opportunity Finance Network. “The 2011 finalists each have demonstrated a commitment to improving the lives of families and individuals through their NEXT-level initiatives that finance housing, community facilities, and small business projects in low-income areas.” Opportunity Finance Network is the nation’s leading national network of high-performance CDFIs.

The Wachovia Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance in partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is run and funded through OFN by The Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation and supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The awards recognize excellence among financial institutions that responsibly serve low-income and low-wealth people and communities and were established to spotlight how CDFIs increasingly benefit our nation’s economy.

More information about the Wachovia Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance is available at www.nextawards.org.

The Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation made a $16.75 million grant and the MacArthur Foundation made a $25 million low-cost, long-term loan to Opportunity Finance Network to fund the Wachovia Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance, inaugurated in 2007. Each year from 2007 through 2011, the NEXT Awards will include:

  • A $5.5 million program-related investment (low-cost loan) and unrestricted grant award to an outstanding, high-potential CDFI with more than $50 million in assets dedicated to lending or investing;
  • A $2.75 million program-related investment and unrestricted grant award to an outstanding, high-potential CDFI with $10-$50 million in assets dedicated to lending or investing, and 
  • Four $25,000 unrestricted grant awards to CDFIs of any size that have demonstrated excellence in Innovation, Advocacy, Financing, and Community Impact.

The two awardees for the multi-million dollar prizes will be CDFIs with a history of outstanding accomplishment, a bold and compelling vision, extraordinary future potential for growth, innovation and impact, and a high degree of readiness to use and leverage a large, flexible investment successfully.
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About NCB Capital Impact 

NCB Capital Impact helps people and communities reach their highest potential at every stage of life. As a national, non-profit community development financial 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 over $1.6 billion in critical investments that create a high quality of life for low income people and communities. www.ncbcapitalimpact.org.

About the Groups Behind the Awards
Opportunity Finance Network (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) who deliver responsible lending to help low-wealth and low-income communities join the economic mainstream. Over the past 30 years, the opportunity finance industry has provided more than $30 billion in financing to underserved markets nationwide. In 2008, OFN Members financed more than 200,000 jobs, 600,000 housing units, 50,000 businesses and microenterprises, and 6,000 community facility projects. More information is available at: www.opportunityfinance.net.

The Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation is a private foundation that provides grants to eligible 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations to support the following focus areas:  Education, Community Development, Health/Human Services, Arts/Culture, Civic and Environment.  The mission of the Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation is to build strong and vibrant communities, improve the quality of life, and make a positive difference.

The 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.