FEBRUARY 2023 NEWSLETTER
Spotlight on ACC and Our Members!
In Honor of Black History Month
ACC Recognizes ACC Member Deborah McKetty 
 
As President of South Carolina Community Loan Fund (SCCLF), Deborah McKetty plays a complimentary leadership role to the CEO to ensure highly productive day to day management of the organization. She maintains general oversight of internal operations and work plans and helps establish and execute organizational priorities. She brings a depth of knowledge and experience in the CDFI industry having founded and served for 12 years as the President and CEO of Greenville Housing Fund, which later became CommunityWorks Carolina.

Recently, Greenville Business Magazine inducted Deborah into its Hall of Fame, alongside six other new members who are making a lasting difference in the Upstate region of South Carolina. A Greenville native, Deborah has more than 30 years’ experience in the community economic development field. She has served in leadership roles in local, state, and regional organizations including United Way of Greenville County, Greenville Chamber Board of Advisors, SC Community Capital Alliance, and the Self-Help Credit Union Board. Deborah has received recognition for her efforts to promote social and economic justice for low-wealth families and communities, including the Greenville Chamber’s Athena Women’s Leadership Award and as one of Greenville Business Magazine’s “50 Most Influential.”

Congratulations, Deborah! 
Julia J. Parker Joins ACC Team as
Chief Lending and Impact Officer 

Julia J. Parker Joins ACC Team as Chief Lending and Impact Officer
In January, ACC welcomed Julia J. Parker as our new Chief Lending and Impact Officer. Julia will oversee ACC's lending program, develop strategies to address investment gaps in its service area, design new financial products and services for clients, and maintain loan and grant policies and systems.
 
Ms. Parker has both public and private sector community development and impact investing experience. After stints working in the U.S. Senate and with the City of Omaha, Ms. Parker started her nonprofit career at Building Bright Futures, a nonprofit incubator supporting organizations focused on educational outcomes for children experiencing the violence of poverty. She went on to start a nonprofit strategy consultancy, Park4029, and to serve as Executive Director of the Omaha Small Business Network, where she worked on microfinance and business strategy for small businesses.
 
Ms. Parker has a passion for investing in entrepreneurs and business owners of color, which she did as Director of Economic Development at the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation, a Boston area CDFI. She has also served as Managing Director at The Crane Institute for Sustainability’s Intentional Endowments Network and Senior Investments Manager at Connect Humanity.
 
“I am so excited to be joining ACC at such a significant inflection point, as Chief Lending and Impact Officer” says Parker. “Donna and the team have maintained a growth mindset at ACC and I hope to continue this mantra as I take over all lending responsibilities for the organization. I am ready to get capital on the street for those lenders and businesses that are truly making a difference in the Appalachian region.”
 
We are thrilled to have Julia on our team—please join us in welcoming her!  
ACC Receives Equity Investment from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
ACC has received a $400,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that will allow the organization to strengthen its capital structure, leverage additional debt capital, and as a result, increase lending and investing
in Appalachian communities that have been marginalized.

ACC Announces over $400,000 in Technical Assistance for Eight Development Projects in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia ACC’s Opportunity Appalachia program has awarded eight additional downtown and rural development projects in Tennessee and Virginia with the support to prepare for $27 million in financing. Proposed projects will develop a range of properties poised to create over 310 local jobs, supporting over 250 individual businesses. Planned uses include childcare centers, outdoor recreation, food business incubator and support facilities, regional airport facilities, and hotels. This brings the total number of projects assisted by Opportunity Appalachia since 2021 to 58 projects seeking nearly $450 million
in financing.
Virginia CDFI Coalition 2022 Highlights and Successes
2022 was an exciting year for the Virginia CDFI Coalition. In addition to officially becoming a 501c3, the Coalition grew its reputation and supported the important work of CDFIs across the state.

Here are just a few highlights of our collective progress towards the organization’s strategic goals:

  • The Virginia CDFI Coalition has grown to 33 active members who participate in monthly meetings.

  • The members have collectively contributed over $25,000 to support the work of the Coalition into 2023.

  • In the 2022 General Assembly session there was active legislation in support of the VA CDFI Fund along with seven other legislative initiatives leveraging CDFIs as strategic partners. In the upcoming 2023 General Assembly, patrons in the House and Senate are confirmed to carry legislation codifying the VA CDFI Fund in statute and capitalizing it at $30 million.

  • The members have worked with faculty at Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia to track the sector’s economic impact and share information with community stakeholders and policy makers.

  •  Members have shared program resources, collaboratively applied for grants, and participated in deals together.
 
We are looking forward to more great work in 2023. Recently, the Virginia House of Delegates passed state Senator Jennifer McClellan’s (D-Richmond) legislation codifying and recapitalizing a state-wide community development financial institutions (CDFI) fund. The legislation will help expand economic opportunities for underserved communities through Virginia CDFIs and other mission-based community development lenders, investors, and financial service providers. The legislation passed the House 94-2 after passing the Senate unanimously earlier in February. The bill now moves to the Governor’s desk for signature.
Speaking of great work ahead, Coalition members will speak at Investing in Rural America, participate in a CDFI-focused pre-session with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s leadership, and present to the Congressional CDFI Caucus with other state-level CDFI Coalitions.
Funding & Technical
Assistance Opportunities
This program is designed to help close the entrepreneurship gap between socially and economically disadvantaged individuals (SEDI) and non-SEDI. MBDA is seeking applications from qualified organizations that have the expertise to provide technical assistance for entrepreneurs starting or scaling their businesses and who are seeking various forms of capital. MBDA expects the program to serve SEDI-owned businesses that are applying, have previously applied, or plan to apply to an SSBCI capital program or other government programs that support small businesses. Application Deadline: February 28, 2023. APPLY HERE
This program supports
projects that benefit small
and emerging businesses in rural communities. Eligible applicants are rural towns, communities, state agencies, authorities, nonprofits, federally recognized Tribes, public institutions of higher education, and non-profit cooperatives.
Application Deadline: February 28, 2023. APPLY HERE
The deadline for Tribal governments to submit their complete SSBCI Technical Assistance (TA) Grant Program applications has been extended to March 31, 2023. Tribal governments that submitted a timely and complete SSBCI Capital Program application or were part of a timely and complete Tribal joint Capital Program application are eligible to submit or be part of a Tribal joint application for the TA Grant Program. A list of Capital Program applications Treasury has received corresponding to Tribal governments can be found on Treasury’s website. APPLY HERE
Upcoming Events
Every Thursday at 3:00 pm ET
Virtual
Rural stakeholders are invited to join this call, which takes place every Thursday.
April 11-12, 2023
Washington, DC
This two-day event will bring together key leaders from the Biden Administration, the 118th Congress, federal agencies, and the development finance industry to discuss the investments made by the 117th Congress, how to access those funds, and the federal development finance challenges that state and local governments continue to face.
News Articles & Reports

EPA has announced initial guidance on the design of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) program created by the Inflation Reduction Act. EPA will hold two competitions to distribute grant funding under the GGRF: a $20 billion General and Low-Income Assistance Competition and a $7 billion Zero-Emissions Technology Fund Competition. The General and Low-Income Assistance Competition will award competitive grants to eligible nonprofit entities that will collaborate with community financing institutions like CDFIs. Together, these entities will leverage public dollars with private capital to invest in projects that reduce pollution and lower energy costs for families, particularly those in low-income and disadvantaged communities. EPA expects to open competitions for funding by summer 2023. READ MORE

USDA Rural Development has launched the Rural Data Gateway to provide public access to data on more than 80 years of USDA investments in rural communities. Rural Investment Dashboards allow data from more than 65 Rural Development programs to be viewed and downloaded, and information is available by program area; at the state, county, and congressional district levels; and more. READ MORE

Thriving Downtowns: An Investment Playbook for Rural Appalachia is a new playbook commissioned by the Appalachian Funders Network and the Central Appalachia Network to provide examples, tools, and inspiration to help investors and communities alike create a pipeline of investments in Appalachian downtown districts. READ MORE
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