News Coverage and Videos from Citi Community Development’s $500,000 Contribution to LEDC Announcement

Below is news coverage and videos related to yesterday’s announcement that Citi Community Development has made a $500,000 contribution to support DC small businesses through LEDC’s Microloan Program. The contribution is the largest private gift in LEDC’s 20-year history and the largest contribution that Citi has made to a community-based organization that does microlending in the DC region in the last 25 years.

Washington Business Journal – Latino group lands $500K Citi grant for loans
Univision (Spanish) – Citigroup dono 1/2 millon de dolares a pequeñas empresas
LEDC Manny Hidalgo’s Welcome Remarks (Vide0) – Watch Here
DC Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Victor Hoskins Remarks (Video) – Watch Here
Citi’s Global Director of Microfinance and Community Development Bob Annibale Remarks (Video) – Watch Here
Small Business Owner Fidel Garcia, Capital Pilates Remarks (Vide0) – Watch Here
Small Business Owners Fredy Robles and Erin White, Mindy’s Catering Remarks (Video) – Watch Here

 

Citi Community Development to Assist LEDC in Boosting Lending to Washington, DC Small Businesses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 21, 2012

Contact: David Roskin, Citi, 212-559-4767 or david.roskin@citi.com
Ash Kosiewicz, LEDC, 202-540-7411 or AKOSIEWICZ@ledcmetro.org

Contribution Will Help LEDC Increase Flow of Much-Needed Capital to Low- to Moderate-Income DC  Business Owners by 50 percent

Washington, DC – Today, Citi Community Development and the Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) announced a substantial contribution to help small businesses in the district access microloans to support business expansion, income growth, and job creation. LEDC’s successful micro-lending program provides alternative financing to small businesses, the most important engines of economic growth in the District. Citi’s $500,000 commitment will enable LEDC to expand its micro-lending program and increase lending to small businesses by nearly 50 percent over the next year.

More than 58,000 small businesses operate within the District of Columbia. While nearly three-quarters of these businesses employ fewer than 20 workers, small businesses as a whole represent more than 90 percent of all employers and employ almost half of the private-sector workforce in the District—more than 217,000 workers. More importantly, these businesses have been responsible for creating 95 percent of all new private-sector jobs in the District since 2005. Small businesses require ready access to financing; in recent years, however, business owners have found it increasingly difficult to access the capital they need to hire workers, purchase inventory, and expand their enterprises. With the unemployment rate in Washington, DC at 10.4 percent (compared to 8.3 percent nationally) and 34,800 District residents seeking jobs but unable to find them, LEDC’s microlending program provides much-needed capital and other resources to small businesses, the most important drivers of growth in the region.

“We are greatly appreciative to private companies like Citi and nonprofit partners such as the LEDC for their work with local small businesses,” said District Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Victor L. Hoskins.  “This City cannot achieve its goals of increased opportunities for entrepreneurs and job-seekers with public-only initiatives and are pleased that our local small business owners now have enhanced opportunities to access capital because of Citi’s investment.”

 

Citi Community Development to Announce Major Contribution to LEDC to Boost Lending to Washington, DC Small Businesses

MEDIA ADVISORY
February 20, 2012

Media Contacts: David Roskin, Citi, 212-559-4767 or david.roskin@citi.com
Ash Kosiewicz, LEDC, 202-425-1303 or akosiewicz@ledcmetro.org

WHAT: Citi Community Development/LEDC Grant Announcement with DC Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Victor Hoskins
WHERE: Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) 2316 18th ST Washington, DC 20009
WHEN: Tuesday, February 21st, 2012; 10-10:30 AM
WHO: Bob Annibale, Citi Global Director of Community Development and Microfinance; District Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Victor Hoskins; LEDC Executive Director Manny Hidalgo; Capital Pilates Small Business Owner Fidel Garcia; Mindy’s Catering Small Business Owners Fredy Robles and Erin White; Citi and LEDC representatives

WASHINGTON– Tomorrow, Citi Community Development and the Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) will announce a $500,000 contribution to help small businesses in the District access microloans to support business expansion, income growth, and job creation. Citi’s major commitment will enable LEDC to expand its micro-lending program and increase lending to small businesses by nearly 50 percent over the next year. In 2011, LEDC disbursed 81 small business loans that injected nearly $700,000 of capital into the regional economy, including 30 loans in the District. With an average loan size of $10,000, Citi’s  contribution will enable LEDC to make approximately 40 loans in the District in 2012. LEDC will leverage these funds to seek additional support in pursuing its goal of tripling the amount it will loan to small businesses in the Washington region in five years to approximately $2.16 million, including $650,000 for DC small businesses. Citi’s support for LEDC – the largest private gift to LEDC in its 20-year history – is the latest and largest in a long record of local investment in the greater Washington, DC area.  In 2011 alone, Citi and the Citi Foundation together committed more than $700,000 to support programs and partners involved in neighborhood revitalization, small business development, financial capability-building, and other initiatives.

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About Citi Community Development
Citi Community Development (CCD) is leading Citi’s commitment to achieve economic empowerment and growth for underserved individuals, families and communities by expanding access to financial products and services, and building sustainable business solutions and innovative partnerships. Our focus areas include: commercial and philanthropic funding; innovative financial products and services; and collaborations with institutions that expand access to financial products and services for low-income and underserved communities. For more information, please visit http://www.citicommunitydevelopment.com.

About LEDC
Working families deserve to live in affordable homes and own successful small businesses – but too many are unable to turn these dreams into a reality. The Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) equips Latinos and other DC-area residents with the skills and financial tools to create a better future for their families and communities. Participants in our programs learn how to buy and stay in their homes, take control of the decisions affecting their apartment buildings, and start or expand small businesses. For more information, please visit http://www.ledcmetro.org.

 

Innovative Microloan Product to Ease Pathway to Citizenship for Immigrants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1, 2011

Contact: Susana Flores, CASA de Maryland
(240) 706-2624; sflores@casamd.org
http://www.casademaryland.org
David Roskin, Citi Community Development
(212) 559-4767; david.roskin@citi.com
http://www.citicommunitydevelopment.org

CASA de Maryland and Citi Lead Pilot Initiative to Make Naturalization Costs More Manageable While Building Credit and Seeding Savings Accounts

Langley Park, MD (November 1, 2011) – Today, Citi Community Development and CASA de Maryland (CASA) launched an innovative microloan program for legal permanent residents (LPRs) seeking to become naturalized citizens.  CASA will collaborate with two community development financial institutions (CDFI’s) — the Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) and the Ethiopian Community Development Council Enterprise Development Group (EDG) — to launch and test the innovative citizenship microloan program that will lower the financial barriers to naturalization while simultaneously building an individual’s credit and financial literacy.

The loan program is the latest addition to a set of naturalization services available through Citizenship Maryland, a wrap-around comprehensive effort led by CASA and participated in by partner AmeriCorps volunteer host organizations that seek to support the hundreds of thousands of eligible legal permanent residents in Maryland become citizens.

“Our state and our nation have a great deal to gain by embracing new Americans and supporting their efforts to contribute to our society and economy,” said Maryland Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown, whose parents immigrated to America to start new lives and achieve their dreams. “Decreasing the financial burden for immigrants who wish to become naturalized citizens will help them improve their families’ lives and enrich their communities. It is exciting that this innovative program is being piloted right here in Maryland.”

 

Washington Post – Microloan Program to Help Legal Immigrants Cover Naturalization Costs

Ernestina Pacas completed her citizenship application last week, 17 years after she moved to the United States from El Salvador.

This week she is awaiting approval of a loan for $680, which she plans to use to pay the application fees charged by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Pacas, 42, is among the first to apply for a new microloan designed to help legal permanent residents cover their naturalization costs.

To read more about LEDC’s participation in CASA de Maryland’s new pilot microloan initiative, click here.