The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund released data collected on new markets tax credit (NMTC) projects financed through fiscal year (FY) 2010. Through the FY 2010 reporting period, community development entities (CDEs) disbursed a total of $20,901,020,746 in qualified equity investment proceeds to 3,060 qualified active low-income community businesses (QALICBs) that financed both real estate developments and operating businesses in low-income communities. Nearly 83 percent of those QALICBs were located in metropolitan areas and received more than 87 percent of the total NMTC financing. Non-real estate QALICBs accounted for nearly 51 percent of the total and received approximately 37 percent of the total financing. Around 3 percent of the QALICBs were loans or investments made through other CDEs. A summary report of the data and a map of the QALICBs are available at www.cdfifund.gov.

Dennis Nolan was appointed to serve as deputy director of the CDFI Fund. In his new role, Nolan will lead policy development, operating procedures, internal controls and strategic planning, as wells as coordinate, evaluate and enhance the CDFI Fund's programs. Prior to joining the CDFI Fund, Nolan was the deputy chief financial officer in the Department of Administration and Finance at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) where he was responsible for financial management, budget formulation and execution, strategic planning, compliance, and reporting and analysis. He has also served in various financial management positions at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Environmental Protection Agency, and has more than 25 years of federal financial management experience.

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Two community development financial institutions, Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI) and The Progress Fund, received a total of $8.25 million in Wachovia Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance to bolster local economies and stimulate job creation in disadvantaged communities. CEI, based in Wiscasset, Maine, will use its $5.5 million award to expand its national Working Partnership Initiative, a program that builds partnerships among CDFIs and community-based organizations to develop innovative projects in rural areas. CEI uses fees generated by NMTCs to fund these projects and encourages its investor partners to do the same. The Progress Fund, based in Greensburg, Pa., plans to use its $2.75 million NEXT Award to expand the Trail Town program and to support its replication in other areas. The program supports small businesses along The Great Allegheny Passage, a 141-mile recreational trail that runs from Pittsburgh, Pa. to Cumberland, Md. Since 2007, the program has benefited eight rural communities and helped open 61 new trail-related businesses. The NEXT Awards are operated and funded by the Opportunity Finance Network through the Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation.

The U.S. Census Bureau released briefs on poverty estimates and household public assistance receipt based on the results of the American Community Survey (ACS). Nationally, the poverty rate increased from 14.3 percent in 2009 to 15.3 in 2010, with 32 states experiencing an increase in the number and percentage of people in poverty. For 20 states, this represents the second consecutive annual increase. According to the 2010 ACS, 3.3 million households received public assistance at one time during the 12-month period covered by the survey. States with the highest public assistance participation rates included Alaska, Maine, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.

Cyrus Amir-Mokri was confirmed by the Senate to serve as the U.S. Department of the Treasury's assistant secretary for financial institutions. In that position, Amir-Mokri will be responsible for developing and coordinating Treasury's policies on issues affecting financial institutions. He most recently served as senior counsel to the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where he also was the agency's deputy representative to the Financial Stability Oversight Council. Amir-Mokri received advanced degrees from the University of Chicago and Harvard College.

 

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