Revolving Loan Funds financed by the Economic Development Administration with a total capital base of more than $1 billion are an essential source of bridge financing for companies that are unable to obtain funding from conventional lenders.
The U.S. Department of Commerce created a new initiative to provide enhanced opportunities for cooperation and collaboration among EDA’s approximately 400 RLF operators in a nationwide network, according to a Nov. 16 news release.
“The Revolving Loan Fund program is one of EDA’s oldest and most successful initiatives. The RLF Community of Practice will enhance the ability of our network of RLF operators to efficiently direct federal funds to communities most in need,” Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alejandra Castillo said in the release.
The National Development Council is partnering with the EDA, the Community Reinvestment Fund USA and Drexel University’s Nowak Metro Finance Lab for this initiative, NDC President Daniel Marsh said, the release reported.
Marsh said the RLF Community of Practice will increase qualified high-impact deployment rates of RLF funding, build RLF organizational capacity and build an effective and long-term EDA RLF cohort, according to the release.
The NDC was to receive a $1.6 million grant from EDA’s Networks program to organize and direct a community of practice aimed at enhancing the ability of RLF operators, the release reported. A core set of successful RLFs will be selected by NDC in collaboration with Community Reinvestment Fund USA and the Nowak Metro Finance Lab to act as peer advisors to the country’s RLF operators.
