WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt announced that the Cape and Islands Community Development Inc.’s Coastal Community Capital will receive $599,991 in federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund to increase their capacity to provide loans to regional small businesses.

 

“I applaud the hard and aggressive work of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce and Coastal Community Capital on behalf of our region’s small businesses,” said Delahunt. “These CDFI funds will go a long way to create jobs and support small business development on the Cape & Islands.”

 

Jeannine Marshall, Executive Director of Coastal Community Capital said: "This award is great news for struggling small businesses.  It will allow Coastal to meet the challenging capital needs of the region's small business by making loans to them for working capital, equipment or debt restructure.  This in turn should spur job creation when it is really needed." 

 

Delahunt wrote to the Treasury Department in support of Coastal Community Capital’s application back in June. In his letter he noted that the grant will increase Coastal Community Capital’s ability to provide loans to regional small businesses and create or retain over 280 jobs based on prior year estimates. 

 

The CDFI Fund received 408 applications from organizations across the nation requesting more than $467 million in funding under the FY 2010 round of the CDFI Program announced today. This included 322 applications requesting more than $458.9 million under the Financial Assistance Program and 86 applications requesting over $8.4 million under the Technical Assistance Program.

 

Through the CDFI Program, the CDFI Fund invests in and builds the capacity of existing private, for-profit and non-profit community-based lending organizations known as Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) that serve rural and urban low-income people and communities across the nation that lack adequate access to affordable financial products and services. The CDFI Fund receives applications on an annual basis and awards funds through a competitive process. Since its inception, the CDFI Fund has awarded over $926 million through the CDFI Program.