Washington, DC-Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced awards totaling nearly $18 million to 59 FDIC-insured depository institutions for serving economically distressed communities across the nation. The awards are being made through the fiscal year (FY) 2012 round of the Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA Program). The activities that qualify these institutions for BEA Program awards occur in census tracts where at least 30 percent of the population lives at or below the national poverty level and where the unemployment rate is 1.5 times above the national average.

"The BEA Program is a strategic tool for community-focused institutions as they partner with private and public interests in search of the best solutions for the neighborhoods they serve," said CDFI Fund Director Donna J. Gambrell. "The awards the CDFI Fund provides today will be reinvested in low-income and distressed communities, supporting new jobs, stronger small businesses, and more financial education and banking services for neighborhoods across the country"

Collectively, these 59 depository institutions increased their loans and investments in distressed communities by $383.3 million; increased their loans, deposits, and technical assistance to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) by $21.1 million; increased their equity and equity-like loans and grants to CDFIs by $258 thousand; and increased the provision of financial services in distressed communities by $5.5 million.

The BEA Program awardees were selected after a comprehensive review of 71 applications received by the CDFI Fund from financial institutions across the nation that requested more than $88.5 million in funding under the FY 2012 round.

About the BEA Program

The BEA Program awards FDIC-insured depository institutions for making investments in the most distressed communities throughout the nation. The awards also help banks and thrifts offset some of their risk and meet capital ratio requirements. The BEA Program is multiplying financial institutions' impacts and generating greater economic opportunity for those with the least access to financial products and services.

About the CDFI Fund

Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $1.7 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through the CDFI Program, the Bank Enterprise Awards program, and the Native American CDFI Assistance program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $33 billion in tax credit authority to community development entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program.

2012 BEA Program Awards

2012 BEA Program Award List

2012 BEA Program Highlights

2012 BEA Program Awardee Profiles

2012 BEA Program Award Booklet

For more information on the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit www.cdfifund.gov.