The Dept of Treasury CDFI Fund announced a Rapid Response Program grant award of $1,134,000 to Iowa Community Capital (ICC) for financial products and/or projects in eligible census tracts. Emeritus Professor Mark Edelman and Sandy Burke, former Senior Researcher for the Community Vitality Center drafted and submitted the successful ICC application.
The U.S. Department of Treasury's CDFI Rapid Response Program's goal is providing additional capital for the organizations to respond to economic challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in underserved communities. CDFIs are specialized organizations certified by the Treasury Department that provide financial services in low-income communities and to people who lack access to financing, such as Iowa Community Capital in Boone.
The two-year award will support ICC's Solidarity Microfinance, Iowa Microloan Affiliates, and ICC's Opportunity Impact Equity Investment Program. ICC's Solidarity Microfinance program provides small loans to more than 250 low-income minority entrepreneurs in the Des Moines-Ames metro area. In collaboration with ISU Extension, ICC has been working to establish local affiliate programs in Wapello, Polk, Black Hawk, Scott, and Tama Counties. In addition, ICC's equity investment program targets early stage companies with innovations in agri-food tech, clean energy, biofuels and biochemicals, waste reduction, and/or projects in eligible Census tracts.