Ground Breaking Investment in Community Financial Institutions Successfully Deployed
September 22nd, 2022
Yesterday, HOPE CEO, Bill Bynum joined Vice President Kamala Harris, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Senator Mark Warner, Chairwoman Maxine Waters and Latino Community Credit Union CEO Luis Pastor to announce the successful deployment of the $9 billion Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP). At the start of the conference, Senator Warner reminded attendees at the press conference that the program is the single largest investment in community financial and Minority Depository Institutions (MDI) ever. The ECIP resources will dramatically increase access to financing for homeowners, small businesses, communities and families at an unprecedented scale – especially in low-income and financially underserved communities that struggled during the COVID-19 crisis.
In her remarks, Vice President Harris stated “America is a nation powered by the ambitions and aspirations of her people. The ambition to start a business, to own a home, to get an education drives America forward. But this takes access to capital [and] the issue here is not everyone in our nation has equal access to this support.”
Secretary Yellen underscored the focus and structure of the program “People have long faced barriers to participating in the financial system. This program was intentionally designed to maximize the impact of those affected by the pandemic.”
Chairwoman Waters shared “throughout the pandemic, we have seen the outstanding work of MDIs and CDFIs through the deployment of Paycheck Protection Program loans to thousands of individuals. [ECIP] is game changing in its support of low-income communities and communities of color to close the racial wealth gap.”
Bill Bynum reflected on HOPE’s track record as the nation’s leading Black and women-owned financial institution and reiterated HOPE’s $1 billion commitment to improve the lives of 150,000 Deep South residents over the next 10 years.
Luis Pastor also highlighted the growth of Latino Community Credit Union spurred by the ECIP and the value it would bring to the credit union’s member-owners.
In total, 162 institutions have received $8.3 billion to date through the program with projected impacts to be significantly larger.
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