CUF (Center for an Urban Future) is a leading NYC-based think tank focused on expanding economic opportunity.
In December, 2022, they released a policy paper titled “Bolstering Minority- and Immigrant-Owned Businesses by Scaling Up CDFIs.”
Lead researcher and writer Judith Messina worked closely with the NYS CDFI Coalition and its members over the course of more than a year to develop this paper. It reads, in part:
“Following nearly three years of a pandemic that has had a disastrous impact on small businesses in communities of color across New York City, there is broad consensus that new city and state government policies and investments are needed to strengthen the city’s minority- and immigrant-owned businesses.
“Of all the solutions policy leaders should consider, few would have a greater impact than expanding the reach of the city’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs).”
The ultimate goal of the NYS CDFI Coalition is to efficiently and effectively serve all people in New York State who require capital to achieve their financial goals and needs, as well as communities that need to develop comprehensively to become good places to live and work.
We appreciate the work of the Center for an Urban Future to draw attention to the important role of CDFIs in New York State and around the country, and to make policy recommendations that will support our work.
Read the report on their website, here.