Opportunity Finance Network to Honor Four Members of Congress for Commitment to Job Creation and Economic Development

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2017 -- Today, Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), a national network of community development financial institutions (CDFIs), will honor Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL-5) with the CDFI Congressional Champion Award.

The award reception comes on the eve of OFN’s annual Advocacy Day, when CDFIs from across the country will come to Washington, D.C. to meet with members of Congress to discuss how CDFIs invest in their communities and create access to capital.

Senator Baldwin has strongly championed and supported community development and CDFIs throughout her career in public service, and most recently as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Senator Capito, as Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, has been a strong advocate for programs supporting rural communities and has included the New Markets Tax Credit Program and the CDFI Fund among them.

Senator Cochran, as the second most senior Republican Senator and Chair of the Appropriations Committee, has long been a steward of bipartisan support and funding for CDFI programs, including the CDFI Fund and the New Markets Tax Credit Program.

Representative Quigley, as Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, has been a champion of CDFIs, serving not only his district, but also nationwide.

“Creating economic opportunity in rural, urban, and Native communities is truly a bipartisan issue,” said Lisa Mensah, President and CEO of OFN. “The four leaders we are honoring today are strong advocates for CDFIs and the CDFI Fund. Millions of Americans in communities excluded from the financial mainstream now have access to responsible financial products and services because of their stewardship. On behalf of the CDFI industry, I am proud to recognize these members of Congress for their efforts.”

OFN member CDFIs are performance-oriented, responsible investors that partner across public and private sectors to finance opportunities in low-income, low-wealth, and under-resourced communities. For more than 30 years, CDFIs have successfully leveraged public resources to contribute to economic growth in markets that mainstream financing does not reach.

Honoree Quotes:

• “Community development financial institutions support local small business job creation in communities throughout Wisconsin. The demand for CDFIs is growing and I’m proud to work across the aisle and stand with Opportunity Finance Network to support economic development in communities that need it most,” said Senator Baldwin, a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
   
• “Creating economic opportunity in our rural communities is critical to West Virginia’s future. One of my top priorities has been to promote policies that spur new investment and boost growth in these areas, and I am grateful to the Opportunity Finance Network for this recognition,” said Senator Capito, chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government.
   
• “I appreciate that the CDFI Fund helps local organizations attract greater private investment in underserved areas of the country, including many areas of Mississippi.  CDFI Fund capital serves as an incentive to help increase lending and investment, which is critical to promoting economic development where it is most needed,” said Senator Cochran, chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
   
• “Opportunity Finance Network has been an indispensable representative of the CDFI community for over four decades, and I am honored to be recognized as one of their 2017 CDFI Congressional Champions. As the Ranking Democrat on the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, I remain committed to providing the over 1,000 CDFIs operating nationwide with the funding and resources they need and deserve to continue fostering economic opportunity and revitalization in our most underserved communities,” said Representative Quigley, ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government.

About the CDFI Congressional Champion Award

OFN presents the CDFI Congressional Champion Award to members of Congress who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing policies that support CDFIs and spur economic growth and job creation in distressed communities across the nation.

About Opportunity Finance Network

Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), the national network of community
development financial institutions (CDFIs), strives to ensure low-income and other under-resourced communities have access to affordable, responsible financial products and services. Members of OFN are CDFIs that deliver responsible lending to help low-income communities join the economic mainstream. Through 2015, OFN’s network originated $48 billion in financing in rural, urban, and Native communities. This financing has helped to create or maintain more than 1,044,000 jobs, start or expand nearly 191,000 businesses and microenterprises, and support the development or rehabilitation of nearly 1.5 million housing units and 9,800 community facility projects. For more information, visit www.ofn.org.

Contacts: 
Lina Page 
EVP, Strategic Communications for OFN 
215.320.4326 | [email protected]

Jen Tedeschi 
Buchanan Public Relations 
610.228.0832 | [email protected]