NEW YORK – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), co-chairs of the Community Development Finance Caucus, along with U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, today held an event at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the Economic Opportunity Coalition (EOC) and new deposit commitments from companies including BNY, Google, KKR, and VISA. This event follows last week’s announcement that Exelon Corporation, Edison International, and Southern Company have joined the procurement pledge to expand opportunities for small and historically underutilized companies. 

“In only two years, the Economic Opportunity Coalition has made historic strides to sync our tremendous progress on CDFIs with the tremendous resources of the banking and corporate world,” said Sen. Warner. “As the EOC continues to grow and unlock billions more in investments, it’s clear that we’re bound for even more progress on getting capital to underserved communities across America. I look forward to continuing to work alongside the EOC and maintaining our strong legislative momentum in the Senate on this deeply important priority.”

“CDFIs are necessary for those outside the financial mainstream to gain self-sufficiency,” said Sen. Crapo. “This announcement is another step forward in the goal of CDFIs supporting new and innovative approaches to spurring economic growth and access to capital in underserved communities.  I applaud the buy-in from the financial sector as Coalition members continue to support public-private partnerships that empower small businesses.”

“Expanding access to capital is key to creating economic opportunity for all communities,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “Community lenders have received historic levels of public and private support during the Biden-Harris Administration, and Economic Opportunity Coalition investments are helping small businesses grow and hire nationwide. The Treasury Department looks forward to continuing to work with leading U.S. companies to put additional commitments to work in communities across the country.”      

“Today, I am pleased by the continued support for the EOC’s deposits initiatives provided by our members,” said Christopher Weaver, Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Coalition. “The additional deposits announced today are another important milestone for the EOC, and we could not have achieved it without the committed support of our members.  I thank all our partners for continuing to work with us, and look forward to building on the achievements announced today, as we strive to build and grow our deposits commitments as a means of wealth creation opportunities for underserved individuals, businesses, and communities.”

Today’s event honoring new members to the Economic Opportunity Coalition and a new round of deposits follows a June 2023 announcement that the Economic Opportunity Coalition secured $1 billion in committed deposits in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in order to expand their lending power for underserved communities and small businesses.

Launched by Vice President Harris in July 2022, the Economic Opportunity Coalition is a historic public-private partnership composed of dozens of corporations and foundations to create wealth in underserved communities. One of the priorities of the EOC is increase access to capital in underserved communities, which motivated the launch of a deposit initiative that facilitates the placement of fully FDIC-insured deposits into CDFI depositories. 

In the past several years, Sens. Warner and Crapo have led efforts to grow the lending capacity of CDFIs. Sens. Warner and Crapo secured a record $12 billion federal investment to help underserved communities access capital as part of the bipartisan COVID relief package approved by Congress at the end of 2020. They also lead the Community Development Finance Caucus, a bipartisan group of 26 senators – 13 Democrats and 13 Republicans – that coordinate to support and expand funding for CDFIs across the country. The senators also champion comprehensive legislation to support CDFIs, including the Scaling Community Lenders Act, bipartisan legislation to unlock more sources of liquidity for CDFIs. 

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