Washington, DC – Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator for Colorado, announced today that two Colorado organizations working to improve access to credit for small businesses across the state will get a boost from the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund.
The Colorado Enterprise Fund and the Rocky Mountain MicroFinance Institute have won a total of $841,867 in CDFI Financial and Technical Assistance Grants. The grants are awarded through a competitive application process to invest in and build the capacity of community based lending organizations. These organizations, certified as CDFIs by Treasury, serve rural and urban low-income communities across the nation that lack adequate access to credit and other financial products and services.
“As small businesses across Colorado work to make it through this tough economic climate, the ongoing credit shortage has made it even more difficult to grow and create the jobs that will lift our state and our country out of the most savage economy since the Great Depression,” Bennet said. “Each of these groups does great work helping entrepreneurs and small businesses in Colorado access the resources they need to grow their businesses. This funding will provide a boost to help them be even more effective in their efforts to help move our communities and our state forward.”
The Colorado Enterprise Fund, Inc., which was awarded $750,000, provides microenterprise and small business loans. The group will use its $750,000 financial assistance award to increase lending.
The Rocky Mountain MicroFinance Institute, which was awarded $91,867, provides microloans and business development services in the seven-county Denver metropolitan area. The group will use its $91,867 Technical Assistance award for staff support and operations.
For more information on the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit www.cdfifund.gov.