U.S. Treasury, St. Louis Fed Host CDFI Program Workshops

The St. Louis Fed's Community Affairs department hosted two workshops in cooperation with the U.S. Treasury about the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. About 25 participants from financial institutions and organizations interested in learning more about the fund attended the workshops, both held Sept. 21.

The fund's mission is to expand the capacity of financial institutions to provide credit, capital and financial services to underserved populations and communities in the United States. The fund invests in entities—either community organizations or financial institutions—that choose to become CDFIs and provide financing and related services to those underserved populations and communities.

Applicants must first apply to become certified as a CDFI and then apply for financial assistance, technical assistance or a combination of both. A team from the CDFI Fund presented information at the workshops on details of the application process. This team included Star Wilbraham, Ayisa Crowe, Genevieve Chand, Jamie Davenport and Chris Steve. They all emphasized the importance of consistency and timeliness in submitted applications. They also highlighted the "4 Cs" of a good application: conciseness, completeness, correctness and being calendar-conscious. Wilbraham noted that it all comes down to "telling your story."

The workshops were designed to be interactive; participants asked specific questions about what the CDFI Fund is looking for in an application and how to present the data and material required. There were extensive discussions on eligible uses of CDFI Funding and the necessary structure and management needed for a CDFI.

The CDFI Fund team also outlined the two categories of CDFI Fund support: Small and Emerging CDFI Assistance (SECA), which is for younger and smaller CDFIs; and Core support for older and larger CDFIs.

Applications for the next round of funding are due by Oct. 31, 2007. Additional information on the CDFI Fund and the application process, including webcasts of their workshops, can be found on the CDFI Fund web site.