MEETING THE NEED
Our nation’s low-income communities have suffered due to factors such as dormant manufacturing facilities, inadequate education and healthcare services, vacant commercial properties, and lower property values. As a result, many of these communities find it difficult to attract the necessary capital from private investors.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
We hope to grow a local Community Investment Fund to allocate program authority to Cooperative Community Enterprise (CCEs) working to improve the quality of life throughout the community.
Local businesses owned and operated by members of the local community, CCEs go through a comprehensive planning, development and approval process to ensure the capacity exist to meet the need.
Using the capital from these equity investments, CCE can make substantial improvements to its local community.
Cooperative Investing
Working Together
Investing in economically distressed communities is key to their revitalization. Cooperative Community Enterprises have the opportunity to borrow capital to make long-term, large-scale investments into their community.
Awardees utilize financing tools such as loan loss reserves, loan funds, risk-sharing loans, and loan guarantees to produce eligible activities within five years.
Such activities may include land development, the development of small businesses, commercial real estate, housing units, shelters, charter schools, daycare or healthcare centers, and municipal infrastructure, among others. In addition to these projects, Eligible CCEs may use the capital to refinance existing loans at below-market rates.
