Avenues Issue 2, 2016

VOLUME 23

ISSUE 2 - 2016

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FEATURES MANY VOICES: CDFIs & HIGH-IMPACT INVESTING ............. 6

IMPACT INVESTING .......................................................................16

by Jeremy Nowak

WHAT DOES HIGH-IMPACT INVESTING LOOK LIKE? ..........18

by Beth Lipson

18

OP-ED: THE GOOD WORK OF CDFIs ..................................... 22

by Senator Chris Coons

2016 UNIVERSITY OF AFFORDABILITY RECAP ...................24

24

DEPARTMENTS

CEO’s MESSAGE.............................................................................. 5

by Mark McDaniel

UPCOMING EVENTS ....................................................................28

CINNAIRE NEWS ...........................................................................28

ADVERTISER INDEX .....................................................................30

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and with private lenders, including projects receiving LIHTC, historic and new markets tax credits.

CEO’s MESSAGE

GOVERNING BOARD Wendell Johns, Chair Retired, Fannie Mae James W. Stretz, Vice-Chair George K. Baum & Company Michael J. Taylor, Secretary/Treasurer PNC Bank Catherine A. Cawthon Fifth Third CDC Derrick K. Collins Chicago State University Christine R. Hobbs Retired, Freddie Mac Multifamily

BY MARK McDANIEL PRESIDENT & CEO CINNAIRE

Brett Macleod JP Morgan Chase William C. Perkins Retired, WPHD Carl Riedy State Street Global Advisors Sheldon Schreiberg Pepper Hamilton LLP Donald F. Tucker Don Tucker Consulting Paul J. Weaver Retired, FHLBI

CORPORATE OFFICERS Mark S. McDaniel, President & CEO Christopher C. Cox, CFO James L. Logue III, COO Kevin Crawley, Executive Vice President Jennifer A. Everhart, Executive Vice President Rick Laber, Executive Vice President Marge Novak, Executive Vice President Jim Peffley, Executive Vice President

LOCATIONS Lansing Headquarters 1118 S. Washington Avenue Lansing, MI 48910 Phone 517.482.8555 Detroit Office 2111 Woodward Avenue, Suite 600 Detroit, MI 48201 Phone 313.841.3751 Illinois Office 225 West Washington, Suite 1350 C Chicago, IL 60606 Phone 708.781.9603 Indianapolis Office 320 N. Meridian, Suite 516 Indianapolis, IN 46204 Phone 317.423.8880 Wisconsin Office 2 E. Mifflin Street, Suite 403 Madison, WI 53703 Phone 608.234.5291 Delaware Office 100 W. 10th Street, Suite 302 Wilmington, DE 19801

This is the second in a series of magazines for 2017 that we are focusing on Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFI’s) and the work that they support in our communities. Cinnaire officially become a CDFI in 2005, but in reality Cinnaire has operated as a CDFI since 1996.

Our focus and mission in the early days was to invest in communities in distress.

Invest where no one would because of fear and risk. We met that challenge but quickly realized we are invested in an area for 15 years, those people we were housing needed local resources and we needed to use our capital to support community development initiatives in these neighborhoods to strengthen the area and provide services to the people we were serving. We designed a number of programs to do just that. Flexible capital that was delivered for community and social impact. We learned as we went. We made mistakes, we adjusted, and tried something else until we had a successful solution. It was this early work that Cinnaire built a platform on which today has become a unique and impactful CDFI in our service areas.

We continue to see investment dollars flow into our communities and neighborhoods, but still the low income and minority commitments and small businesses are forgotten or have no access. This is the gap that CDFI’s play a role in filling.

CDFI’s are catalysts for forming partnerships and connecting communities to capital sources that otherwise are almost impossible to access. CDFI’s use creativity, flexibility, advocacy, and research skills to meet the needs that are unmet. It is still a relatively young model and is gaining more and more attention as the future solution for stabilizing and sustaining communities, populations, and businesses.

This edition will address in detail what impact investing is all about and how CDFI’s are on the cutting edge of this movement. Cinnaire’s future growth and strength will be around impact investing in the communities we serve. What gives us the confidence to do this is that it was what we were formed to do 23 years ago. We just didn’t know what it was going to be defined as in the future.

We are energized for this work and the platform we are building for the future.

Enjoy the read.

5

FEATURE

VOICES MANY

CDFIs & HIGH-IMPACT INVESTING: A lively discussion about high-impact investing between influential voices

For 30 years, high-impact CDFI investments have provided people in disinvested and underserved communities with access to responsible, affordable finance. We wanted to find out more about why CDFIs are high-impact, who invests in CDFIs, how transformative change is happening, and what we can expect to see next from some of the opportunity finance industry’s most influential voices.

WHAT MAKES CDFIS HIGH-IMPACT INVESTEES? Mark Pinsky (Former President & CEO, Opportunity Finance Network): CDFIs deliver exceptional “bang for the buck” to investors. While all impact investments can achieve good outcomes, CDFI investments reach the people and places that are hardest to reach with products that are designed to help borrowers succeed. If a carbon-reducing investment makes an impact, a carbon-reducing investment that also increases the financial security and capability of a low-income or low-wealth person is high-impact.

The impact of that investment in the future of a person who has been denied equal access historically is simply higher than the impact of other, important investments.

Janie Barrera (President and CEO, LiftFund): LiftFund recently completed an Economic Study looking at the high returns in our communities. The purpose of this study was to analyze the economic impacts of the lending activity in Texas and Louisiana from 2010 to 2015. The analysis isolated the impacts on the major metropolitan areas within the states, as well as activity that occurred outside these metropolitan areas. The economic and fiscal impacts were derived only from the new fulltime and part-time jobs created by this lending activity in each year, as reported by the businesses to LiftFund.

Over the study time period, LiftFund provided over $104.4 million in loans in Texas, an average of $17.4 million each year, resulting in output of $1.4 billion with revenues to state and local government agencies equal to $66.6 mil-

AVENUES TO AFFORDABILITY

lion. Louisiana, LiftFund provided over $10.6 million in loans, resulting in an increase in output of $181.2 million with $8.5 million revenues flowing to state and local governments.

WHO WERE THE INITIAL PRIMARY INVESTORS IN CDFIS? HOW DID FIRST INVESTMENTS COME ABOUT? Sister Corinne Florek (Executive Director, Religious Communities Investment Fund/Director, Mercy Partnership Fund): Many of the first investors in CDFIs were individuals who had personal wealth and religious groups.

Chuck Matthei, who was the major developer of loan funds in the US, spoke to people in homes and churches and reminded folks that those who have resources have an obligation to use them for the good of all. In Catholic theology this is called the common good. Sisters of Mercy in Vermont and New Hampshire were the first investors in those loan funds, and religious women often are the first in new endeavors such as the Solar Energy Loan Fund in Florida.

In my congregation, (40 years ago is when we started), we sold some properties and our leadership suggested investing it for future retirement needs.

For those working directly with the poor, this was morally unacceptable.

Why should we only provide for ourselves when others needed it? After much discussion, we decided to invest the money, but get involved in corporate responsibility issues to challenge the unjust practices of the corporations we invested in. We joined the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility and began filing shareholder resolutions,

which we still do to this day. We wanted to have direct impact, so we used some money to invest in projects in lowincome communities. At that time we used the words “alternative investing” to describe it, since it was an alternative to the stock market. The name evolved into community development investing, which I still prefer. The money is targeted to projects in low-income communities. We chose a loan vehicle because we needed the money paid back, but interest rates were very low and below market. When we began only one loan fund existed, the Cooperative Fund of New England. We began with credit unions and CDCs and some nonprofits.

Currently, there are so many options you can even diversify a portfolio of these investments.

Ronald Phillips (President & CEO, CEI): The CDFI Fund played a critical role and CEI was among the first groups funded. Prior to and during the early years, CEI was well on its way as a major Maine community development and financial institution. Major foundations such as Ford, MacArthur, Kellogg, Surdna, Calvert and Heron, along with national religious organizations, federal SBA, USDA and OCS agencies, and banks were engaged in capitalizing CEI’s investment pools to finance micro, small and medium enterprises, natural resource industries of farms, fish and forests, community facilities such as child care, and affordable housing. The CDFI Fund offered the necessary core funding and equity capital that strengthened CEI’s balance sheet to leverage low cost capital from a variety of sources for investment in high impact projects.

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FEATURE

We cannot continue to grow to benefit undeserved rural and urban people and places cut off from economic and equal opportunity without continuous and increasing equity capital for operations and investment without the CDFI Fund.

WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF CRA IN THE EARLY DAYS? Bill Bynum (CEO, Hope Enterprise Corporation/Hope Credit Union/Hope Policy Institute): Congress established the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in response to redlining—the practice where banks would deny credit, particularly mortgages, to residents of neighborhoods with high concentrations of minorities. CRA specifically required banks to “help meet the credit needs of the local communities where they were chartered.” CRA created an examination and enforcement mechanism for regulators to ensure that banks would provide loans, investments and services (branches) in lowand moderate- income areas that had been historically overlooked.

Despite the enactment of several regulatory and a few statutory revisions over time, CRA is in desperate need of

modernization. The banking environment has changed dramatically over the last 40 years. For example, because bank assessment areas for regulatory purposes are predicated on the presence of branches, many poor rural communities remain out CRA’s reach.

As branches in rural and low-income areas close, far fewer large banks are evaluated on the level of lending, investment and service provision to these communities than when the Act was first implemented.

Janie Barrera: The Role of CRA in the early years is the same as it is today-to level the financial playing field for the unbanked and under banked. This can be accomplished where banks partnering with CDFIs to prepare the unbanked and under banked to move into the traditional financial institutions.

Between 2009 and 2013 more than 1,800 bank branches shut down nationwide—93 percent of them in low income neighborhoods (Bloomberg, 2014). Overall, more than 68 million Americans live in “bank deserts”— communities with one bank or fewer.

This lack of access causes high transaction costs for basic financial services as alternative financial service provid-

ers (AFSP) fill the gap. For a variety of reasons, it is found that minorities are significantly more likely to live in a bank desert, with size effects that are economically meaningful. A study in 2008 by DeYoung shows that the distance between small business borrowers and their lenders have substantially increased. This increase was disproportionately large for borrowers located in low-income and minority neighborhoods. This has led to more barriers for small-businesses accessing healthy capital. Additionally, the lack of depository institutions creates an environment where residents pay higher prices for lower-quality products.

OFN’S LONGITUDINAL STUDY SHOW BANKS ARE THE PRIMARY INVESTORS IN CDFIS TODAY. WHO ELSE? Mark Pinsky: OFN’s groundbreaking longitudinal study of 20 years of CDFI data—the first analysis of its kind— found that bank lending to CDFIs grew much faster than any other source of debt. The timing suggests that the federal Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) had a lot to do with spurring that investment because the CRA changes in 1995 made it easier for banks to lend to CDFIs. Other types and sources of investors continued to grow during the same period, but not as fast as banks. Faithbased investors grew steadily. Foundation investments increased. Government support—at the federal, state, and local levels—rose. Individual lending to CDFIs expanded. Non-bank corporations also got into the game.

The question now is where the growth in support will come from over the next 20 years. CDFIs are working hard to diversify their sources. The CDFI Bond Guarantee program is bringing hundreds of millions of new dollars into the industry from the Federal Financing Bank, a new source. It has the potential to bring in billions more. We are working to make that happen.

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CINNAIRE

BY DONNA FABIANI EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF KNOWLEDGE SHARING OPPORTUNITY FINANCE NETWORK

WHAT IS A CDFI?

A

t a recent meeting of CDFIs in New England, three young entrepreneurs spoke about how CDFIs were enabling them to pursue their dreams. A young couple spoke about obtaining a mortgage to purchase farm land to expand their small organic farming business. The executive director of a nonprofit afterschool program for low-income youth talked of receiving financing to purchase a building to house her rapidly growing business. In both cases, the entrepreneurs had lacked the collateral and formal business plans needed to obtain financing from traditional sources. The CDFIs listened to their dreams, helped them develop business plans and financial projections, took the time to work through other barriers, and provided financing to get them on their way. Pride, gratitude, and mutual respect emanated from the business owners as well as the CDFI staff who worked with them.

WHAT EXACTLY IS A CDFI? CDFIs are private financial institutions dedicated to delivering responsible, affordable financing and financial services to disinvested people and communities. These mission-focused financial institutions can be banks, credit unions, loan funds, or venture funds. CDFIs provide a complete range of financial services, financial products, and technical support to people and

MAKING AN IMPACT Opportunity Finance Network members have made a big impact since its inception. Here’s a cumulative snapshot of what they’ve done for their communities.

communities that aren’t adequately served by mainstream financial institutions. A $200 loan might help an individual start to build a credit history. A $5,000 loan might help a family start a homebased microenterprise. A $50,000 loan might help a family buy its first home. A $100,000 loan might help a business expand and create new jobs. And a million dollar loan might help bring a grocery store to an inner city neighborhood. But CDFIs do much more.

They bank the unbanked. They provide financial literacy counseling, training in how to start a business, and technical assistance to help nonprofits manage growth. Through their actions, CDFIs give low-income and low-wealth communities the types of opportunities that are a given in higher income communities.

WHEN DID CDFIS COME INTO BEING? While the term “community development financial institution” has only been around since the mid 1980s, mission-focused financial institutions have been in existence since at least the early 1900s when some of today’s CDFI credit unions were chartered. The first CDFI bank, South Shore Bank, was chartered in the early 1970s but it wasn’t until the mid 1980s that a

$40G

FINANCED A CUMULATIVE $40 BILLION SINCE THEIR INCEPTION

continued on page 11

934K JOBS

1.5M

DEVELOPED & REHABILITATED 1.5 MILLION HOUSING UNITS

FINANCED 9,800 COMMUNITY SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE EXPANDED/MAINTAINED CHILDCARE, EDUCATION, AND HEALTHCARE SERVICES

143K

FINANCED 143,000 BUSINESSES AND MICROENTERPRISES

CREATED 934,000 JOBS

FEATURE

focus CRA on the purposes it was intended to serve, using credit and financial systems to work for those people and communities.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF CRA TODAY? Mark Pinsky: CRA remains a cornerstone of the CDFI industry today. Banks have learned through CRA that CDFIs are often vital partners that amplify their impact—that’s the high-impact investing idea. Fortunately, banks and others have many ways to provide financing that produces positive impacts.

Unfortunately, CRA has lost some of its influence, for several reasons: • CRA was created on the premise that the primary role of banks was to take deposits with the help of federal deposit insurance. That’s no longer true.

• CRA’s leverage comes into play when banks are merging or acquiring, and there is less of that now

than the past 20 years.

• Banks have more options under CRA and that has diluted the impact CRA products.

• A significant amount of expertise about CRA—particularly at the bank regulatory agencies—has retired.

During the recession, when bank survival overrode bank service to communities, the people who had made CRA effective went on to other things. The Regulators are working hard today to rebuild their capacity to oversee CRA. • CRA was created to combat racebased discrimination in bank lending, and it has worked well. Today— with racial discrimination and the fight for equity both on the rise— there is a great opportunity to re-

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Rachel Reilly Carroll (Associate Director – Impact Investing, Enterprise Community Loan Fund): CRA is still a motivating factor for large and small financial institutions, and their investments in CDFIs allow us to pair the patient capital and technical assistance that many borrowers need during the earliest stages of their projects. However, the CDFI industry should not solely be reliant upon CRA-motivated investments for capitalization. We have a compelling story that appeals to a broad range of stakeholders including foundations, hospitals, universities, and individuals—all of which can help to diversify our capital base through investments.

HOW DO WE KNOW THAT CDFIS ARE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE? Rachel Reilly Carroll: As a financial intermediary, CDFIs are experts in placing capital and servicing loans. Of equal importance the technical assistance CDFIs provide is key to building the capacity of community developers and ensuring that the projects invested in have the intended impact.

CDFIs also know how to leverage multiple sources of public and private funds to structure deals that meet the very specific needs of community developers operating on thin margins.

Without this expertise, a lot of very important projects would not be deemed financial feasible.

For example, our recent Social Return on Investment impact case studies feature the benefits derived by residents and communities due to CDFIs’ ability to creatively structure and access capital. The New Generation Fund provides early stage capital to affordable housing developers in Los Angeles, and our One-Stop Shop for Health Centers model allows nonprofit healthcare centers to access both debt and equity in one transaction. Both models CINNAIRE

WHAT IS A CDFI? continued from page 9

group of fewer than 50 community development loan funds holding less than $30 million in assets gathered for the first time as a budding movement.

This small group seeded what would become known as the CDFI industry, which today comprises almost 1,000 organizations managing more than $90 billion in assets.

Many of the early loan fund leaders had been involved in the civil rights, worker rights, and social justice movements. Through that work, they had come to realize that access to capital and wealth-building opportunities were a critical missing piece in marginalized communities. They set out to make capitalism and financial institutions work for these communities by creating community development loan funds.

WHAT HAVE CDFIS ACCOMPLISHED? CDFIs have had a significant impact in the communities they serve. Opportunity Finance Network members alone, comprising 240 CDFIs or slightly more than 25 percent of all CDFIs, are responsible for over $40 billion in cumulative financing since their inception. This investment has led to the development and/or rehabilitation of 1.5 million housing units, the financing of 143,000 businesses and microenterprises, the creation of 934,000 jobs, and the financing of 9,800 community services organizations that have expanded or AVENUES TO AFFORDABILITY maintained childcare, education, and healthcare services for thousands of individuals.

On average, 73 percent of a CDFI’s clients are low-income, 48 percent are persons of color, and 48 percent are female. While comparable figures are not available for all conventional bank clients, they are available for conven-

AVENUES TO AFFORDABILITY

tional and nonconventional lenders’ home mortgage borrowers: in 2013, 28 percent of home purchase loans went to low-income borrowers, and 28 percent went to minorities.

Remarkably, CDFIs’ loan losses nearly match those of mainstream financial institutions: in 2014, OFN Members’ net charge offs were 0.7 percent while FDIC-insured institutions’ net charge offs were 0.5 percent. OFN Members’ cumulative net loan loss rate is just 1.5 percent. Even more remarkable, CDFI performance has been comparable to banks even during economic downturns including the Great Recession.

Throughout their history, CDFIs have been flexible, innovative institutions that have stayed on the leading edge of providing financial products and

services to low-income and low-wealth communities. CDFIs helped create the healthy foods and charter school financing markets. They are doing the same now with financing for federally qualified health centers. They have helped increase the supply of supportive housing services, financed the purchase of assistive technologies for persons with disabilities, financed energy efficiency improvements in affordable housing, and are increasingly involved in natural disaster response and rebuilding efforts in low income areas.

CDFIs are vital players in the country’s financial system and in the ecosystem of organizations working tirelessly to increase opportunities in America’s disinvested urban and rural communities.

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FEATURE

scale the effectiveness of community organizations and their ability to improve neighborhoods and serve lowincome and working families.

Calvin Holmes (President, Chicago Community Loan Fund): Michael Swack’s August 2014 impact study on CDFIs found that they were delivering a majority of their loan dollars to historically underserved borrowers.

Establishing ourselves as essential providers of capital in underserved communities is one measure of our efficacy although most of us are pressing to document long-term impacts on the lives of disadvantaged individuals and communities.

CDFIS ARE AT AN INFLECTION POINT, WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN NOW? Jeremy Nowak (President, J Nowak Associates, LLC): CDFIs have a significant record of accomplishment in the deployment of capital and capacity to demonstrate development impacts.

Moreover, they have been successful institution builders and shapers of public policy. Future success will depend on the ability to do four things: • Market more effectively.

• Create investor products that make investing more seamless.

• Diversify the CDFI investor base.

• Make better use of technology.

These are related to the significant opportunity for CDFIs to bridge the gap between community investment and the new interest in impact investing among an increasing number of individuals and institutions. CDFIs were the grassroots pioneers of a great deal of impact investing; they now have to take advantage of the opportunity they helped shape.

Calvin Holmes: We need to focus more on outcomes measurement so that we can clearly see how our products and services are helping individuals learn/ earn more and helping communities export more and assist communities in exporting more goods and services to improve their micro-economies. We’ve made great strides, but additional work is needed to clearly document our value proposition and promote outcomes to stakeholders, including the general public.

WILL CDFIS BE ABLE TO CREATE SYSTEMIC CHANGE IN DISINVESTED COMMUNITIES? Calvin Holmes: Only if we work in powerful alliance with the public, private, philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, partnering in coordinated holistic strategies that incorporate evidence-based solutions to the complex matrix of challenges that weigh down disinvested communities.

Bill Bynum: According to the CDFI Fund, there are 384 persistent poverty counties in the country (counties where the poverty rate has exceeded 20% for 30 years in a row). Many of the counties exhibit some of the lowest levels of educational attainment, health outcomes, employment and access to financial services.

CDFIs have a successful track record of addressing financing gaps in persistent poverty communities and are uniquely positioned to foster systemic change. Throughout its history, HOPE has financed rural hospitals, health centers, charter schools, fresh food retailers, affordable housing and other vital community infrastructure.

The projects ensure access to vital services and generate quality jobs in underserved communities. Since the 2008 financial crisis, HOPE has tripled the number of its branches in underbanked places, many where the last bank closed its doors. Increasingly, we are working with officials in these towns to execute community and economic development plans that catalyze growth and prosperity.

Janie Barrera: CDFIs have created systematic changes. We see it every day. Based on current work, over 65% of loans go to underserved entrepreneurs who are consistently left out of

main-stream financial services. Here is a breakdown of our impact of those who are considered disinvested communities: 55% of financing goes to Hispanics, 24% to African Americans, 39% to women. In 2013, a group of independent academics assessed our impact on startup businesses we lent to from 2006-2011 and found that those receiving a loan increased the probability rate of survival by 44 percentage points.

(Find study at http://papers.ssrn.com/ sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2157707) What the study also found, was that the business owners were able to use their assets to access more capital or grow their assets by UCC filings.

What does this mean? Everyone knows the demand side of this conversation, yet add demand with the many barriers small businesses are facing (weak or lack of credit and assets, timing, lack of financial acumen to time financing, and life) and they are left out. CDFIs have risen to serve these folks in particular; therefore, I believe we’ve created systematic change.

From a macro picture, CDFIs have provided $35 billion in cumulative financing to deserving, underserved clients, thus making systematic change.

Remember, our companies (CDFIs) mission are to serve a segment that is left out of financial mainstream and preyed on from high priced capital, we know that we go where not many will go, to be fair to disadvantaged communities.

To show the cumulative impact of recent years, we asked how are we doing with investing in our businesses? A sixyear IMPLAN economic impact study showed that for every dollar deployed we (meaning borrower, business, B2B, purchases, transactions, and government revenue) have a $13.62 positive ripple effect of economic impact in communities and specifically the underserved small business community.

So we definitely have some system change happening.

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FEATURE

WHO DO WE THINK THE NEW INVESTORS IN CDFIS WILL BE? Jeremy Nowak: The new investors will vary depending on the CDFI and our ability to create right systems for investor deployment. The recent Chicago announcement of the partnership between MacArthur, Chicago Community Trust, and Calvert is a great example of a targeted effort to build a platform that makes it easy for donor advised funds to enter the CDFI world. The fact that several CDFIs now have S&P ratings means that investors that require investment grade paper could enter the field. Family offices that are increasingly focused on impact investments in the environmental field are also likely CDFI investors as long as we focus on the right marketing strategies. The rapid growth of several depository CDFIs is demonstrating the capacity to aggregate savings from modest income depositors and members. It’s the very

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breadth of the field and the fact that there is a general interest in the culture of identifying the intersection of private initiative and public purpose, which is so very compelling and hopeful.

Calvin Holmes: State and municipal governments (the ones that are healthy) and some individuals, small businesses and family offices through an impact-investing lens (if we can get some of them to accept below market returns).

WHAT DO WE THINK WILL CHANGE ABOUT HOW CDFIS OPERATE? Jeremy Nowak: CDFIs are hybrid institutions, part market and part mission. As they grow, they have to constantly renegotiate those boundaries. In the future, they will have to build more sophisticated operating capacity in technology and risk management, and more ability at acquiring and serving customers. Three interesting developments could change

the field. First, there are a small number of CDFIs that may emerge as FinTechlike in their ability to use technology to better serve consumers and small businesses. Secondly, there is the potential for stronger inter-CDFI partnerships (particularly between larger metro oriented funds and rural funds) to help increase capital deployment in communities less able to build internal capital capacity. Finally, I think that there is a tier of CDFIs that are close to being able to build their own (equity) balance sheets without requiring public support. They are profitable without being profit maximizing, which was always the point of building a third way system of capital access.

WHAT WILL REMAIN THE SAME ABOUT CDFIS DURING THIS TIME OF CHANGE? Bill Bynum: As CDFIs continue to navigate an evolving financial sector, our most significant challenges are nei-

CINNAIRE

ther keeping up with the rapid pace of technology, nor the constant struggle for capital and earnings. CDFIs greatest risk lies in forgetting our reason for being. The ethos of the CDFI movement traces its lineage back to institutions like the Freedmen’s Bank and the first credit unions that were organized to ensure that immigrants have access to fair credit, and the community development corporations birthed out of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. At each juncture, people came together to bridge opportunity gaps for people that had nowhere else to go. We must preserve that drive and motivation, and stay true to our roots.

Sister Corinne Florek: My hope is that CDFIs will always stay mission focused.

Some newer ones think that banks and the government started this, which is not true. It was people of conscience who believe in solidarity, empowerment, social justice and the common good that began it all. The moral and ethical values need to remain and CDFIs need to continue to be innovative in helping those who still don’t have access or who are discriminated against.

Continue to be risk-takers. What has been shown is that the risks are not what mainstream markets would have you believe. Who ever thought Lehman Brothers would be insolvent? A result of greed and reliance on mathematical models! We have shown that when products are created that meet needs sensibly everyone wins. Make sure women and people of color are equally represented on boards and in management, not just beneficiaries. That’s is a sign that we walk the talk. Integrity is very important. Also, create our own best practices and suspect what the mainstream markets are doing, since their track record is not good when it comes to helping people thrive! Don’t lose sight of the fact that even though we may be working with one person at a time, we need to consider building strong communities and people.

We need to consider the effects on the environment in everything we do if we want a future on this planet.

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Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) state approvals & HUD experience • Phase I & II Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) • HUD Environmental Assessments (4128) • Hazardous Materials (Asbestos, Lead-based paint, Radon) Management & Consulting • National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) Compliance • ASTM E-2018 Property Condition Assessments (PCAs) • Capital Needs Assessments (CNAs) • Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Physical Needs Assessments (PNAs) • HUD Project Capital Needs Assessments (PCNAs) • HUD RAD Physical Needs Assessments (RPCAs) • HUD Green Physical Needs Assessments (GPNAs) •

www.pmenv.com 15

SOCIAL INVESTMENTS

IMPACT INVESTING A TIME FOR CHANGE

BY JEREMY NOWAK, PRESIDENT J NOWAK ASSOCIATES, LLC

I

mpact investing refers to investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return. It is a form of socially responsible investing that serves as a guide for various investment strategies.

During the past ten years, impact investing has emerged as the most

CDFIs have made steady impact over the past years across various industries they finance including affordable housing, small businesses, and community facilities. When CDFIs were introduced by the U.S. Government in 1994, the concept was considered to be very innovative, even though some of these entities had been operating for decades. Instead of directly investing in community development projects, the government could fund intermediary

ments note the cultural gap that exists between the two industries. Conversations with both investors and CDFI practitioners noted several areas of differences, some of which are outlined below: • Market versus concessionary expectations: Many impact investment proponents do not believe that you have to take a concessionary perspective regarding rates of returns.

This is not typically the way that CD-

PRODUCT INNOVATION NEEDS TO TAKE PLACE AT THE CDFI LEVEL — THIS INNOVATION SHOULD BE ACTIVELY SUPPORTED BY THE ENTIRE CDFI INDUSTRY. widely used language within the social investment industry. Impact investing has quickly gained extraordinary global coverage in financial and mainstream media. It’s hard to think of a major financial news source from the Wall Street Journal to Forbes to the Economist that has explored this issue.

The interest by wealth holders (corporations, family offices, individuals) is part of the maturation of the corporate responsibility movement. Impact investing draws some of its U.S. narrative from the track record of CDFIs. A recent study on domestic opportunities for impact investors sponsored by the GIIN and Carsey School of Public Policy notes the prominence of CDFIs as a high-impact opportunity for U.S. impact investors.

While impact investing has gained momentum, so has the CDFI industry. The industry has grown and transformed at an impressive rate for over 20 years.

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financial institutions to do the work more efficiently. As community needs changed and adapted, the intermediary financial institutions could change and adapt to those needs quickly.

While the concept of CDFIs was considered innovative back in the 90’s, we now have a new generation of investors heading down a new path. With more impact investors in the market than ever before, the CDFI industry needs to figure out how to leverage the impact investors’ capital to make social impact investments that meet the new investors’ needs. While this will be challenging, there is definitely an opportunity for the CDFI industry to seize an opportunity to raise more capital. Dealing with the practical gulf between the impact investor movement and the CDFI industry is imperative.

CDFI investors working in institutions that make CDFI and impact invest-

FIs view their industry. CDFIs largely seek capital at reduced rates, with the exception of investments driven by tax policy.

• Equity vs. debt structures: Many impact investment proponents are interested in equity investments rather than debt instruments. CDFI equity investments are much less prevalent than similar debt products.

• Private versus public sector orientation: The impact investment movement is more enterprise-focused than social or public sector-oriented.

There is no connection with the tradition of social reform embedded within many CDFIs. • Environmental versus community development focus: Much of the impact investors’ focus is global and environmental. While many CDFIs are involved with environmental projects and sustainability, it is not well-marketed through the industry.

Community development impact is CINNAIRE

important to the banking industry, foundations and religious community investors, but it may not translate as well with family office investors.

How can the impact investment field produce more capital for CDFIs? How can CDFIs best market and develop investment products that appeal to the impact investment industry? How do we simplify and provide consistency in the CDFI field around impact investing? What are the most important impact metrics to identify for CDFIs with the new generation of investors? Getting started answering these questions will be critical to the next stage of CDFI industry growth.

Recent conversations with both impact investors and practitioners in the CDFI industry lead to the conclusion that the CDFI world, along with its mission investment supporters, needs to take a focused approach to connecting its practice with the impact investor appetite. While there are many dimensions to the approach, four themes stand out: • Simplify and market: CDFIs have a brand that can be too complex and can require too much explanation. The impact investment industry uses a language that is accessible.

CDFIs need to brand themselves as a proven domestic social impact vehicle and make their story similar and easy to understand.

• Challenge profit maximization: The CDFI industry has to present itself through a theory of its practice that includes a rationale behind certain forms of subsidy and the value of being profitable without being profitmaximizing.

• Innovate around products and platforms: Product innovation needs to take place at the CDFI level - this innovation should be actively supported by the entire CDFI industry. An example of this innovation would be developing more equity-like products.

• Cultivate new relationships: The CDFI industry needs to create bridges to the new philanthropy linked to money that was made through techAVENUES TO AFFORDABILITY

nology and finance over the past two decades. While those relationships may exist for a few CDFIs, they have not translated into a high level of industry recognition.

Many bank investors see the impact investment field creating new touch points for CDFI-like work within their institutions, particularly through wealth management and trust divisions. Many foundations view impact investing as a way to frame additional work across their institutions that will increase the flow of social investment capital. Recent announcements at several major national foundations regarding increasing their impact investment portfolios reflect that perspective.

One of the continuing breakthroughs of CDFIs relates to their ability to shift public policy at local and national levels. Capital-led institutions continue

to be remarkably important policy platforms. Given the heightened nationwide interest in issues of income inequality, poverty and racial justice, this is an important moment for CDFIs to reinvigorate their profile within the broader impact investment world. It will not happen without intentional efforts by CDFIs to do so.

JEREMY NOWAK HOLDS A B.A. DEGREE IN PHILOSOPHY FROM THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY (1973) AND A PH.D. IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY FROM THE NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH (1986), WHERE HIS DISSERTATION WON THE ALFRED SCHUTZ AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE. NOWAK WAS THE PRESIDENT OF TRF FROM 1986 TO 2011, LEADING THE ORGANIZATION TO BECOME ONE OF THE NATION’S PROMINENT CDFIs. HE IS ONE OF AMERICA’S LEADING PRACTITIONERS AND THOUGHT LEADERS IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY AND IS THE PRESIDENT OF J NOWAK AND ASSOCIATES, LLC. NOWAK’S MOST RECENT STUDY, CDFI FUTURES: AN INDUSTRY AT A CROSSROADS, CAN BE FOUND AT: WWW.CINNAIRE.COM.

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FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS

WHAT DOES HIGH-IMPACT INVESTING LOOK LIKE?

BY BETH LIPSON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES OPPORTUNITY FINANCE NETWORK

CDFIs are high-impact investors that boldly bring innovative and transformative capital to the hardest to serve markets. As we deliver affordable, responsible financing solutions we also pursue new and challenging strategies to fundamentally changing market forces and create good for individuals and communities. We strive for long-term impact, helping disinvested communities recover and flourish—hopefully to become the new drivers of the economy.

As the U.S. financial marketplace experiences seismic shifts that are not only reshaping where capital is available but how this capital is delivered, CDFIs are needed more than ever. Proven, flexible, and mission-driven, we weather market volatility and adapt to change, continually creating sustainable access to opportunity in urban, rural, and native communities.

Exemplifying this everyday perseverance is a group of CDFIs—recipients of the Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance—that have developed innovative ways of confronting critical issues facing the communities CDFIs serve best. Whether it’s with a new product, service, or approach or the scaling and expansion of an existing one, NEXT Awards recipients illustrate what high-impact looks like. Their innovative, scaleable, and replicable strategies for consumer financial services, affordable housing, small business financing, energy efficiency, and more have created meaningful change 18

in many low-income and low-wealth communities.

Below are a few examples of NEXT recipients whose solutions are highimpact investing at its best.

SUNRISE BANKS: RESPONSIBLE FINTECH PRODUCT OPTIONS FOR CONSUMERS In the U.S. 57 percent of American households struggle with financial health, and a growing number turn to high-cost alternative financial products and services to fill financial gaps.

CDFIs like Minnesota-based Sunrise Banks are using Fintech to provide safe, affordable alternatives to predatory lenders. The bank was recognized by the 2015 NEXT Awards for its plan to expand TrueConnect, a small-dollar employer-based loan. Convenient and affordable, the loan integrates with employers’ payroll systems through proprietary software that Sunrise and its technology partner designed to scale.

After a successful pilot in Minnesota, Ohio, and California, the CDFI is now expanding the product in new states, starting with Oklahoma, Arizona, Texas, and Florida, and then nationally.

OPPORTUNITY FUND: SAFE, AFFORDABLE MICROLOANS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES Nationwide, nearly 8 million minorityowned small businesses owned by people of color and nearly 9.1 million women-owned small businesses help power their communities. But

even still entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color struggle to obtain the credit they need to start their businesses or keep them going. Female entrepreneurs start companies with 50% less capital than male entrepreneurs, and minority business owners are denied loans at nearly three times the rate of non-minority owners.

Opportunity Fund, the largest nonprofit CDFI microlender in California, won a 2013 NEXT Award to expand EasyPay, its new customized loan product for small businesses. EasyPay enables small business owners who do not qualify for traditional financing to access capital and repay their loans automatically through daily credit and debit card sales, rather than as a lump-sum term payment each month. This new product incorporates Fintech solutions that will allow the product to scale in new markets. In EasyPay’s first two years, Opportunity Fund originated 242 loans, many to businesses owned by women or people of color, that have generated more than $14 million of economic activity.

HOUSING PARTNERSHIP NETWORK: QUALITY AFFORDABLE HOUSING THROUGH TRAILBLAZING CAPITALIZATION STRUCTURE Nationwide, the demand for rental housing is increasing while financing for preservation of affordable housing is shrinking. Real estate developers are buying up unsubsidized affordable housing, taking it out of affordable CINNAIRE

stocks, increasing rents, and displacing low-income families. Housing Partnership Network (HPN), a Boston-based business collaborative of 100 housing and community development nonprofits, is preserving housing for low-income people by giving nonprofit affordable housing developers a chance to compete to buy these properties.

The 2014 NEXT Award recipient partnered with some of its members, major foundations, and financial institutions to create the first-ever real estate investment trust (REIT). The first ever nonprofit owned and operate REIT solves the struggle among nonprofit housing organizations to access fi-

nancing quickly so they can bid competitively against for-profit developers on the purchase of unsubsidized properties. HPN’s innovative capitalization structure provides acquisition funds that enable members to close on real estate purchases within 90 days, compared to the more typical time frame of one to two years.

As of the end of 2015, the REIT’s portfolio consisted of nine transactions, which translates into saving 2,066 affordable housing units in areas of AVENUES TO AFFORDABILITY

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FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS

California, Maryland, and Illinois. HPN expects in the near future to grow this portfolio to $500 million, preserving 12,000-15,000 units of affordable housing across the U.S. CRAFT3: ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION BY FINANCING ENERGY EFFICIENCY Home energy costs can be a significant hardship for low-and moderate-income households, but most families do not have enough savings to invest in energy- and carbon- saving solutions. And yet, improving the efficiency of housing, businesses, and community facilities can lower operating costs for business and homeowners, create new jobs for communities, and reduce carbon emissions for a healthier planet.

Craft3, a leading Pacific Northwest CDFI, received a 2010 NEXT Award for its innovation in green financing to mitigate the effects of climate change and

overcome barriers to participation through inclusive finance. Craft3’s home energy loan provides affordable and inclusive financing for projects that generate energy savings while providing living-wage work for local contractors. Loans are repaid on the borrower’s heating utility bill and energy savings help offset the loan payment. This onbill feature of the loan allows Craft3 to provide loans to people who could not otherwise access financing, and contributes to the portfolio’s low default rate.

Craft3 has now deployed more than $42 million for home upgrades. This financing helped more than 3,200 families save more 40 million kWh and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 8,700 metric tons.

One step ahead.

Within our full-service accounting and advisory firm, Baker Tilly’s nationally recognized affordable housing specialists can help you analyze options, overcome barriers, and uncover resources to make your project successful.

Our strategic solutions go beyond the basics to help public and private development entities, managers, lenders, and investors make the right decisions with candid advice and clear industry insight.

Connect with us: bakertilly.com Don Bernards, CPA, Partner 608 240 2643 | Donald.Bernards@bakertilly.com

Baker Tilly refers to Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, an independently owned and managed member of Baker Tilly International. © 2015 Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP

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Also through this program, Craft3 took an innovative approach to capitalization by successfully completing two secondary market sales of loans in their energy efficiency portfolio over the past three years. Combined in those transactions, Craft3 sold $22.1 million in single-family, energy-efficiency improvement loans to North Carolina-based Self-Help Credit Union.

The deals provide strong evidence that on-bill repayment loans perform extremely well while providing homeowners affordable, inclusive, energyefficiency financing. The two sales improved Craft3 liquidity and ability to continue delivering inclusive home energy loans to strengthen resilience in Washington and Oregon.

Poised to grow the opportunity finance industry to new levels of success, CDFIs, like these NEXT Award recipients, are expanding into new geographies, asset classes, and products, and are using innovative capitalization models and Fintech solutions to do so. They are exploring collaborations and partnerships—deeper engagements with bank partners, community partners, government, technology partners, and others—including borrowers themselves. This is what high-impact investing looks like.

THE WELLS FARGO NEXT AWARDS CELEBRATE CDFIS—THEIR CREATIVITY, ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AND ENDURING IMPORTANCE. LAUNCHED IN 2007, THE PROGRAM HAS AWARDED MORE THAN $70 MILLION THROUGH A COMPETITIVE AWARDS PROCESS TO INNOVATIVE CDFIS SERVING ALL AREAS OF THE COUNTRY. CINNAIRE

Promises Made, Promises Kept.

Syndicators and lenders will attest to our rock solid reputation.

For more information, contact our administrator at 248.833.0550

OPINION

OP-ED: THE GOOD WORK OF CDFIs

BY CHRIS COONS (D-DE), UNITED STATES SENATOR

When I was elected to the Senate in 2010, I brought to Washington ten years of experience in county government – and a clear perspective on the impact of federal programs on local development. That perspective has guided my priorities in Washington and helped me understand that community development financial institutions, or CDFIs, are a perfect example of effective local and national institutions empowered by smart federal policy.

CDFIs are financial institutions that are dedicated to lending to underserved communities and financing projects that stimulate economic development in the areas that need it most. CDFIs’ community development mission drives them to invest in areas that traditional banks will often not touch, while still maintaining an over 30-year track record of stability and profitability. At the same time, through the innovative New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program, CDFIs attract investment in low-income communities from other private actors like banks and corporations.

CDFIs include a variety of structures and business models, including community banks, credit unions, loan funds, and community venture capital funds.

These types of institutions have always been important to local development in their own right, but their status as Treasury-certified CDFIs drives them to sharpen their focus on their communities and helps them access federal resources to increase their capacity.

For example, Delaware’s two newest CDFIs, Sussex County Federal Credit Union and Eagle One Federal Credit Union, have always been focused on serving their local constituencies. But since acquiring CDFI status, they have had access to tools that will help them improve their communities even more.

I’ve seen firsthand how Delaware’s CDFIs benefit their communities. As New Castle County Executive, I helped plan aspects of the future development of the historic Flats neighborhood on the west side of Wilmington. Since joining the Senate, I have been proud to see that project flourish. This community of over 450 residential units will be redeveloped in seven phases over the course of a decade. Cinnaire, another Delaware-based CDFI, has provided

$2 million in debt and $18 million in equity investments to help make this idea a reality.

I continue to come across examples of the good work CDFIs are doing across my state. Last year, I had the privilege of hosting the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Maria Contreras-Sweet, in Wilmington for a tour of local small businesses.

We began her visit with Van Hampton, head of First State Community Loan Fund, a CDFI based in Wilmington that focuses on small business lending. During the tour we visited La Fia, a restaurant in downtown Wilmington founded with help from a loan from the First State Community Loan Fund. First State partners with the SBA through the Community Advantage program, a smart initiative designed to help CDFIs offer SBA loan products.

A few years ago, I was pleased to find that the First State Montessori Academy, a Wilmington-based charter school, was purchased and renovated with help from a $3 million loan on short notice from NCALL Research Inc., a CDFI based in Dover. Although NCALL focuses on lending to struggling rural communities in Kent and Sussex County, its loan fund provides financing statewide for critical development projects.

In the Senate, I’ve tried to emphasize to my colleagues that they might know about major development projects across their states – but have no idea that they only occurred with help from CDFIs. I was proud when the First State Military Academy opened in Clayton.

Only later did I find that NCALL and Cinnaire partnered to help provide the low cost financing to reclaim the dilapidated school site and transform it into

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CINNAIRE

the top rate school it is today. Now this tuition-free charter school has the capacity to provide Junior Reserve Officer’s Training and technical education to more than 500 students.

With these examples in mind, I’ve sought to help CDFIs in Delaware and around the country. As the Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, I am the senior Democrat overseeing spending for the Treasury Department, including the CDFI Fund.

Fortunately, CDFIs enjoy bipartisan support, and the Chairman of the Subcommittee, Republican Senator John Boozman of Arkansas, is a key ally.

Last year, Senator Boozman and I helped increase funding for the CDFI Fund to $233.5 million, the highest level in the history of the program. We also helped defend funding for CDFI programs like the Bank Enterprise Award program and the Bond Guarantee Program. I look forward to working with the Chairman to ensure these initiatives receive the support they need in 2017 and beyond. I also want to find legislative ways to improve these programs, and I welcome feedback from the CDFI advocates who know best.

Since its inception, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $2 billion to CDFIs and allocated $43.5 billion in New Markets Tax Credits. In Delaware alone, our five Treasury-certified CDFIs have issued more than $202 million in loans and facilitated more than $104 million in NMTC. For decades, CDFIs have leveraged this federal funding with capital from private sources. By some estimates, every $1 in awards results in over $12 in lending activity – and all of this financing goes to potential homeowners, small businesses, and local real estate development in underserved communities.

The CDFI model works and has had real impacts on local communities. I’m honored to have the opportunity to fight for federal programs that support CDFIs in Delaware and across America.

AVENUES TO AFFORDABILITY

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&NBJM LQGFJGMF@NBOFSDQB DPN

When it comes to economic development, we’re all in.

It’s time to count on more.

Clark Hill’s Economic Development Team plays a significant role for our clients by being instrumental in major economic development transactions. We have received national recognition for innovative financial structures, the ability to build bridges between business and government, and positive contributions to the communities we serve. clarkhill.com

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20 ANNUAL EDUCATION 16 CONFERENCE

#CinnaireU2016

MAY 17&18

Balance: Health, Communication & Personal Growth

2016 UNIVERSITY OF AFFORDABILITY RECAP On your mark. Get set! GO! The 2016 University of Affordability attendees were off to the races as they stepped foot inside the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, Indiana. Registration was abuzz with over 250 participants, from more than 65 different companies, waiting eagerly to take part in this year’s conference. The overall theme was Balance: Health, Communication & Personal Growth. The main initiative of Cinnaire’s University of Affordability is to cultivate the ongoing success of our industry by facilitating technical and operational development in a collaborative setting to enhance strong, agile teams. According to Van Fox, President of MHT Housing and one of two top Marathon Sponsors for the conference, it did just that!

“Cinnaire’s University of Affordability was a great experience, packed with relevant topics on today’s industry and time spent with a first-rate group of people.”

Day one of the conference was called to attention by a whistle blow from Mark McDaniel, President and CEO of Cinnaire. After a rousing welcome,

Amin Irving, President and CEO of Ginosko Development Company and one of two top Marathon Sponsors, introduced the Keynote Speaker, Trina Gray. Gray is the Owner of Bay Athletic Club in Alpena, Michigan, as well as one of the top coaches for Team BeachBody. The presentation, titled Success is NOT Convenient, emphasized Gray’s personal experiences of becoming a successful executive of not only her business, but also her life.

Gray touched on personal development, investing in others, and creating a vision for your future.

Following the Keynote, conference participants enjoyed the “Track Meet” Tradeshow and Luncheon. A “Track Meet” trivia game encouraged attendees to interact with the Tradeshow vendors, and also provided the opportunity to enter to win an iPad. In addition, a pedometer contest took place, with the winners receiving a FitBit or a fitness bag for the most steps taken during the conference. As long lines formed in front of each vendor table, it was evident that new connections and relationships were being made.

Next on the agenda were the educational breakout sessions. Attendees were provided with five different education tracks: Maintenance, PM/ Leasing, Management, Developer, General, and Energy. Cinnaire partnered with the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan on the Energy Efficiency track, which provided participants with an introduction to energy efficiency topics, ranging from funding to benchmarking to working with energy efficiency contractors. Other sessions included topics such as communication in various aspects of business and relationships, Veteran Housing, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI’s), REAC, Acquisition and Rehabilitation, health and personal growth, and Equitable Transportation Oriented Development (TOD). Not only were the ses-

ABOVE: The Opening Session included a “warm-up”, where participants were encouraged to stand up and stretch and get energized for the day ahead!

RIGHT: McDaniel in typical form, donning a Detroit Tigers baseball uniform and whistle.

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CINNAIRE

2016 WRAP-UP

sions rich in content and cutting-edge knowledge, the speaker lineup was comprised of industry experts, ranging from well-known industry consultants and executives to university professors and military veterans.

“I am sure I took more away than contributed with so many inspirational speakers. All of the sessions during both days were top-notch.” noted Shreedhar Ranabhat, Community Lending Director at Forward Community Investments, and Community Facilities session panelist.

After a day of being inspired and learning, it was time to enjoy an evening Tradeshow Networking Reception. The reception was tailored around celebrating YOU! Participants were encouraged to have fun at digital photo booth or by getting a personalized caricature drawing. Relaxing massages, cocktails, and appetizers were also provided. Conversation and laughter could be heard from all corners of the room!

Day two of the conference began with breakfast and an exceptional Motivational Speaker, Char Goolsby, who captured the attention of her audience right from the start line. Throughout her presentation, titled Who You Are Matters!, she addressed the importance of taking care of oneself, as well as expressing heartfelt thanks to those in your life that make a lasting impact.

She took it even further by asking participants to stand and say thank you to someone in the room. A sense of immense gratitude filled the room, and participants left feeling invigorated and ready to take on the day with a positive outlook.

As the finish line was in sight, attendees made their way to the wrap-up session. McDaniel gave a final thank you to the generous sponsors and vendors that helped make the 2016 AVENUES TO AFFORDABILITY

Elaine Simpson’s session, Communication Strategies & Methods Solutions

Char Goolsby’s session, Your Personal and Professional Brands Matter!

Attendees enjoyed having caricature’s drawn by Valory McClennan, a Kendall College of Art and Design student.

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20 ANNUAL EDUCATION 16 CONFERENCE

#CinnaireU2016

MAY 17&18

Balance: Health, Communication & Personal Growth

LEFT: Pedometer Contest First and Second Place Winners, Kathy Thurman and Cynthia Joes, both of Continental Management. CENTER: Pedometer Contest Third Place Winner, Clinton Jones, Elite Property Management. RIGHT: Track Meet Trivia Winner, Linda Savage-Johnson, RMC Property Management.

University of Affordability a success, as well as announced the winners of the Track Meet Trivia and the pedometer contest.

With the overwhelming positive response from this year’s conference, Cinnaire strives to make the 2017 University of Affordability even better! “When you think about it, Cinnaire doesn’t have to put on a conference

to enhance the productivity and effectiveness of affordable housing stakeholders – but they do. Cinnaire doesn’t have to care about the physical and mental well-being of its Partners – but they do. It is an honor for Ginosko Development Company to sponsor an event that goes beyond simply discussing the rules and regulations of “building boxes”; which is exactly what the University of Afford-

ability does every year.” stated Amin Irving, President and CEO of Ginosko Development Company.

University of Affordability is designed for management company personnel, property managers, maintenance staff, developers, investors, and partners.

We hope to see you at the 2017 University of Affordability September 20-21, in Lansing, Michigan!

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS MHT Housing/Continental Management Ginosko Development Michigan Asset Group Sloniker & Woodgate KMG Prestige Dauby O’Connor & Zaleski Maner Costerisan P.C. Burton & Associates Plante Moran Arthur J Gallagher Wash Laundry Services CohnReznick Occupancy Solutions Elite Property Management Lockwood Companies The Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis 26

Medallion Management Crestline Communities Layton Richardson Loomis, Ewert, Parsley, Davis & Gotting Blystone & Bailey Baker Tilly Clark Hill Millennia Housing Management

THANK YOU VENDORS Novogradac & Company CEDAM Trina Gray Fitness Love Funding Wash Laundry Services APCO, Inc

CINNAIRE

NEW CONSTRUCTION RENOVATIONS HISTORIC REHAB MULTI-FAMILY COMMERCIAL MIXED USE

CINNAIRE NEWS

NEW HIRES/PROMOTIONS Zina Risk has been promoted to Vice President, Underwriting. Zina’s vast knowledge of underwriting has been a huge asset to Cinnaire. Zina brings best-in-class service to every transaction and relationship she touches.

developments.

PARTNER NEWS

Congratulations to Occupancy Solutions LLC, on the successful marketing and compliance services of a 200-unit lease up in Indianapolis’ far east side. From mid-September through December 31, 2015, Occupancy Solutions placed 160+ qualified residents into Haciendas Apartments.

Jeff Vitton joined Cinnaire as an Underwriter in our Chicago office in June. Jeff will be responsible for underwriting loans for multifamily housing

UPCOMING EVENTS A HOME FOR EVERYONE CONFERENCE July 13 – 14 • Appleton, WI For details, visit http://ahomeforeveryone.events PRESERVATION OF RURAL HOUSING: BUYER/SELLER CONFERENCE August 1 – 2 • French Lick, IN For details, visit http://inaha.org/ events/2016-buyer-sellerconference INDIANA AFFORDABLE HOUSING CONFERENCE August 24 – 26 • Indianapolis, IN For details, visit http://indiana housingconference.org

2016 CINNAIRE MID-YEAR IMPACT UPDATE At Cinnaire, we are committed to providing creative loans, investments and best-in-class services to our partners. We are also committed to revitalizing the communities we invest in and creating better lives for the residents we serve. We are proud to share with you this Mid Year update on the impact we have created so far in 2016!

EQUITY CLOSINGS

1,700 JOBS

CREATED/ RETAINED 1,700 JOBS

DEBT CLOSINGS

613

UNITS CREATED/ RENOVATED

1,090 JOBS

CREATED/ RETAINED 1,090 JOBS

552

UNITS CREATED/ RENOVATED

$108MM

1,379

RESIDENTS SERVED

TOTAL DEVELOPMENT COSTS $108,107,351 CINNAIRE TOTAL EQUITY INVESTMENTS $58,326,091

$84MM

1,242

RESIDENTS SERVED

TOTAL DEVELOPMENT COSTS $84,206,669 CINNAIRE TOTAL EQUITY INVESTMENTS $8,516,000

• • • •

McDANIEL RECEIVES CHILDREN’S TRUST FUND ADVOCATE AWARD The Michigan Children’s Trust Fund recently awarded its 2016 Children’s Advocate Award to President/CEO, Mark McDaniel.

As a six-year member of the Children’s Trust Fund board, McDaniel has been a tireless champion for children’s issues. He advocated for and provided the seed funding to assess the impact of adverse childhood experiences on the adult health and well-being of Michigan residents.

McDaniel joined the board in 2011 and has been actively involved in many of its projects and programs related to improving the well-being of children and families facing challenges.

“Mark McDaniel is one of those special individuals who has been tireless in doing everything and anything to help make things a little better for children in our state, especially kids who face challenges such as abuse and neglect,” said Children’s Trust Fund ExecA PUBLICA TION

OF GREAT LAKES CAP ITAL FUND VOLUME

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3 | 2015

G IMPLEME LCF SUCCESS NTS ION PLAN VOLUME

utive Director Michael Foley. “He has pulled together diverse partners from across Michigan to harness resources to support kids and families facing difficult challenges. Mark’s efforts have been truly superhuman, and for that, we are grateful to honor him with our 2016 Children’s Advocate Award.”

Under McDaniel’s leadership since 2004, Cinnaire has contributed over $390,000 in support of Children’s Trust Fund efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect in Michigan.

“I am honored and humbled to receive an award for something that I strongly believe in, and that’s building a better future for every child in Michigan so they can be safe and live successful lives,” McDaniel said. “Through my work with the Children’s Trust Fund, I have been fortunate to meet so many people from all walks of life who go above and beyond to make things a little bit better for our kids. This award is a tribute to the partnerships that are

ISSUE 4

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? SUBSCRIBE! If you would like to receive future issues of Avenues to Affordability, please complete the below form or email your information to MaryMcDaniel@cinnaire.com.

Full Name Address

| 2015

State

VOLUME 23

The award is now in its fifth year. Created by the Michigan Legislature in 1982, the Children’s Trust Fund within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is Michigan’s only statewide nonprofit organization solely dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect. It has raised more than $60 million to support programs that have affected more than 6 million children and families.

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• Why W e Did It • How W e Did It • How Yo u Can Do It • What To Do M oving

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Email ISSUE 1 201 6

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Submit forms to: Mary McDaniel, CMP, Alternative Solutions, LLC 1057 Cambria, East Lansing, MI 48823

INSIGHT TOTO AFFORDABILITY REBAVENUES RANDINGSUCCESSFUL STRATEG

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ADVERTISER INDEX

MANAGING EDITOR Mary McDaniel, CMP Alternative Solutions, LLC 517.333.8217 mcdaniel64@comcast.net EDITORIAL Kelly Rogers Pixie Publishing, LLC 517.575.5051 pixiepublishing@gmail.com ADVERTISING Jennifer Calery Alternative Solutions, LLC 517.896.0873 jcalery@cinnaire.com GRAPHIC DESIGN Melissa Travis Ink Ideas Graphic Design, LLC 989.272.3101 www.inkideasgraphicdesign.com

Baker Tilly ................................................................................................................................ 20 Blystone & Bailey ................................................................................................................... 15 Chesapeake Community Advisors, Inc..............................................................................13 Clark Hill, PLC ......................................................................................................................... 23 Community Economic Development Association of Michigan ................................. 22 Dauby O’Connor & Zaleski, LLC ...........................................................................................11 Ginosko Development Company ...................................................................................... 32 Keller Development ................................................................................................................13 Kincaid Henry ............................................................................................................................2 KMG Prestige, Inc. ................................................................................................................. 30 Loomis, Ewert, Parsley, Davis & Gotting, P.C..................................................................... 4 Love Funding ............................................................................................................................17 Maner Costerisan, P.C. ......................................................................................................... 23 Medallion Management, Inc. ............................................................................................... 15 MHT Housing, Inc. .................................................................................................................. 21 O’Brien Construction Company, Inc. .................................................................................27 Occupancy Solutions, LLC ................................................................................................... 10 Plante Moran ............................................................................................................................. 4 PM Environmental, Inc. ......................................................................................................... 15 Rohde Construction ................................................................................................................31

COVER ILLUSTRATION Matthew McDaniel Student matthewmcdaniel1294@gmail.com Avenues to Affordability magazine is published quarterly by Cinnaire.

This publication is copyrighted. The reproduction of Avenues to Affordability is prohibited by law. For additional copies, comments, concerns or to be added to the mailing list, please contact the Cinnaire office at 517.482.8555 or visit www.cinnaire.com.

INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING? Contact Jennifer Calery at 517.896.0873 or jcalery@cinnaire.com for more information. Since January 2015, Cinnaire’s online magazines have garnered 2,078 reads, made 49,168 impressions and were shared 32 times through the website. The Cinnaire website attracts an impressive 1,000 visitors to the homepage and over 6,000 page views on a monthly basis.

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Ginosko Development Company “Creating a Brighter Community Today” Ginosko Development Company (GDC) is a real estate development company specializing in the creation and preservation of quality affordable housing. GDC has a successful track record meeting the financing challenges of these developments, from MSHDA and HUD loan programs, tax-exempt bond programs, rental subsidy programs, and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits; to historic tax credits, brownfield credits and other specialized financing programs unique to the affordable housing industry. GDC is also known for its success in meeting the design, planning and environmental challenges of these developments. GDC’s residential communities are recognized for careful and coordinated planning, an experienced development team of top architects, attorneys, contractors and engineers, attention to detail and design quality, and respect for the environment. Visit our website to get to know us better!

www.Ginosko.com 41800 West 11 Mile Road, Suite 209 | Novi MI 48375 office 248.513.4900 | fax 248.513.4904