Mark Sanchez of Crain’s Grand Rapids Business covered the state budget allocation for Michigan CDFIs in this story.
Lawmakers allocated the funding in a budget for the state’s 2024 fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 and awaits Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s signature. The funding will go to certified community development financial institutions (CDFIs) that work with entrepreneurs, particularly in underserved, low-income and rural markets, and support projects for affordable housing.
CDFI loan funds usually borrow the capital that they lend, said Elissa Sangalli, president of Northern Initiatives, a Marquette-based CDFI that works and lends throughout the state and issued $9 million in loans last year. Sangalli, who chairs the Michigan CDFI Coalition, said the state funding will help to keep capital costs down amid higher interest rates of the last two years.
“The state’s support will help Northern Initiatives offer reasonable loan terms to our borrowers during this rising interest rate environment,” she wrote in an email to Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
The Michigan CDFI Coalition will continue to pursue additional state funding for CDFIs, Sangalli said.
