FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers today announced the recipients of the Community Development Financial Institutions Funds (CDFI) awards. The awards, totaling more than $112 million, are being awarded to banks, thrifts and community development financial institutions through the CDFIs Bank Enterprise Award Program and the CDFI Programs Core, Intermediary and Technical Assistance Components.

The CDFI Fund is helping to rebuild communities across the country, said Secretary Lawrence Summers of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. By creating partnerships between institutions and low-income communities, CDFI Fund award recipients are helping to make financial services available to all Americans.

The CDFI Funds mission is to promote local growth and access to capital by directly investing in and supporting CDFIs and by expanding traditional financial lending, investment, and services within underserved markets. Since 1996, the CDFI Fund has provided more than $300 million to promote community and economic development and encourage private sector investment to underserved markets.

The CDFI Program leverages Federal dollars by requiring that each CDFI provide at least a one-to-one match with funds from non-Federal sources for each dollar of assistance it receives. In addition, CDFI award recipients are held to performance standards that help ensure that the CDFIs investment will result in a significant community impact. Under the CDFI Fund, local organizations make the decisions about how to best meet community needs.

Please visit the website www.treas.gov/cdfi for a complete listing of the 1999 CDFI Fund awards.