This article in MIBiz is a good explanation of Michigan’s new CDFI Coalition. Here’s a snippet:
Elissa Sangalli, president of Marquette-based Northern Initiatives, said she looks forward to the coalition bringing more awareness to CDFIs.
Northern Initiatives is a Michigan CDFI that provided lending products exclusively to the Upper Peninsula when it was founded 30 years ago. Today, it serves 73 counties and deploys more business loans annually than any other Michigan CDFI.
“Most people are not familiar with CDFIs,” Sangalli said. “What we really want to do in working together is raise awareness for CDFIs and the key role we play in financing small businesses and affordable housing, and also to ensure that people who need access to that kind of capital know that we exist and how to find us.”
