Spotlight on ACC and Our Members! |
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Dogwood Health Trust Partners
with ACC on Major Data Pilot Project
Dogwood Health Trust has selected ACC as a recipient of its prestigious Accelerating Capital to Under-Fueled Entrepreneurs grant. The grant provides a much-needed infusion of capital to aid entrepreneurs who are underserved or marginalized by traditional funding sources. This funding is an important step in support of ACC’s “WNC Technology Transformation for Capital Impact Acceleration” project, which provides funds for technical assistance to CDFIs to bolster capital and technical assistance deployment to entrepreneurs of color and rural entrepreneurs in Western North Carolina by using enhanced data analytics. Four ACC members (Mountain BizWorks, Partner Community Capital, Carolina Small Business Development Fund, and Institute Capital) will participate in the pilot project.
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ACC Members Selected as Competition Winners for the MBDA’s Capital Readiness Program
Congratulations to ACC members Bridgeway Capital and Mountain BizWorks, which were selected as competition winners for the Minority Business Development Agency’s Capital Readiness Program (CRP). The CRP is funded by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) and was reauthorized under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. It is a $125 million technical assistance program to help minority and other underserved entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses. Once final awards are made, CRP awardees will launch and operate business incubators or accelerators designed to prepare minority and other underserved entrepreneurs to secure capital from the $10 billion SSBCI and other capital sources.
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ACC CEO Publishes Op-Ed on CDFI Certification Reform
Donna Gambrell, ACC President and CEO, and Annie Donovan, CEO of Raza Development Fund—two former directors of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund, published an op-ed in American Banker on the need to reform CDFI certification to ensure that certified CDFIs fully embrace a community development mission and to keep out bad actors and predatory activities. The CDFI Fund's proposed reforms aim to maintain a high standard for responsible lending in low-income communities while also certifying as many CDFIs as possible.
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ACC Members Selected to Participate
in Green Lending Training
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The Solar and Energy Loan Fund, a CDFI and the first community development green bank in the U.S., announced the selection of several ACC members to participate in the launch of its Southern+ Climate Equity Accelerator. The purpose of the training is to help prepare a group of green lenders – including emerging green banks and CDFIs – for deployment of public and private funds that will catalyze the region’s transition to a clean energy economy with a focus on low-income communities. Ten CDFIs are participating in a six-session virtual learning series on green commercial lending with New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation. Among the CDFIs selected, four are ACC members: Pathway Lending, Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, Inc., Virginia Community Capital, and Woodlands Community Lenders. Learn more HERE.
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Funding & Technical
Assistance Opportunities
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T his program will invest $200 million in persistently distressed communities to create and connect people to good jobs. It targets areas where prime-age (25-54 years) employment significantly trails the national average, with the goal to close this gap through large, flexible investments. EDA will deploy funding through a two-phase competition. The Phase 1 Notice of Funding Opportunity invites applicants to apply for Strategy Development Grants, approval of a Recompete Plan, or both. Applicants who receive approval of a Recompete Plan in Phase 1 will be invited to apply to Phase 2. Phase 2 investments can support a wide range of implementation activities across workforce development, business and entrepreneur development, infrastructure, and additional planning, predevelopment, or technical assistance. Phase 1 application deadline: October 5. APPLY HERE.
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This program recognizes that significant economic opportunities often reach across state lines and that achieving maximum economic impact can demand a multistate approach. Through carefully crafted planning grants and transformational implementation grants, ARISE will foster creative collaboration across state lines to produce a more robust and sustainable regional economy. Mandatory concept papers will be reviewed every two months starting the day after the first submittal deadline, October 31. APPLY HERE
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This new program will offer grants to support partnerships between organizations from different sectors that will work together at the local, state, or regional level to improve access to fresh, healthy, affordable food by providing financial and technical assistance to eligible projects. Partnerships must be public-private partnerships; one entity must be a public entity such as a local, state or a tribal authority, government, or agency; the others may be nonprofits, for-profit businesses, foundations, food policy councils, food systems and food access organizations, among others. Application deadline: November 3. APPLY HERE
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USDA and University of Kentucky Webinar on Placemaking Resources
in Rural Communities
August 30, 2023
This webinar will help rural leaders learn about creative placemaking approaches, which integrate arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities. It will feature the experiences of rural leaders who have received grants from Waymakers Collective to finance creative placemaking projects in the Appalachian region. Community leaders and public and private grant funding organizations interested in rural placemaking are encouraged to attend.
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October 15-18, 2023 Washington, DC Register HERE.
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The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) has released a new resource for community partners to learn more about outdoor industry careers and workforce development. The Outdoor Industry Workforce Hub highlights the depth of outdoor workforce and career opportunities including a new roadmap for a 21st century outdoor workforce. READ MORE
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APPALACHIAN COMMUNITY CAPITAL
110 PEPPERS FERRY RD NW
CHRISTIANSBURG, VA 24073
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