Almena, WI, September 14 – Impact Seven (I-7) is the recipient of a $1.75 million award the CDFI Fund, and is one of six Wisconsin Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to be awarded. These funds will support job-creating expansions by Wisconsin small businesses, including microenterprises.

Impact Seven serves as an alternative lender for small business looking to start, grow and expand. This $1.75 million award will bolster I-7’s growing small business loan pool, where emphasis in lending is placed on job-creation in distressed markets and other social impacts. In 2014, loans through I-7 resulted in 610 jobs retained or created throughout the state. The flexibility of terms makes this loan pool available to both short- and long-term financing for projects of all types.

“Impact Seven is honored to be awarded this highly competitive grant,” said Brett Gerber, Impact Seven CEO. “The CDFI Fund award will play a pivotal role in our goal of providing flexible, affordable capital for underserved small businesses throughout Wisconsin, creating jobs and revitalizing disadvantaged communities.”

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) awarded 195 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) $202 million in grants and loans through the latest rounds of the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program) and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program). This announcement caps the 20th anniversary celebration of the creation of the CDFI Fund and the CDFI Program.

[Read the full CDFI Fund press release HERE]

About Impact Seven

Impact Seven is a nationally-known 501(c)(3) non-profit Community Development Corporation with a focus on business development and affordable housing. As a consultant, lender, investor and developer, Impact Seven has helped numerous communities make significant strides toward revitalizing distressed housing and economies. The organization is a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), manages Small Business Administration (SBA) and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) loan programs, and is part owner of a community development bank. One of the largest non-profit developers of affordable housing in Wisconsin, Impact Seven is a statewide Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) and currently manages a rental portfolio of over 1,400 housing units.

About the CDFI Fund

Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $2 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through the CDFI Program, the NACA Program, the Bank Enterprise Award Program, the Capital Magnet Fund, and the Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program.  In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $43.5 billion in tax credit allocation authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, and $525 million has been guaranteed in bonds through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.