Washington, DC – September 28, 2016 – The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced awards of $185.7 million to 196 organizations yesterday. The award process is highly competitive. A total of 457 applications were submitted requesting more than $675 million under this round of the CDFI program.

The Progress Fund is excited to announce that it received $1,347,000, the maximum amount it was eligible for under this year’s competitive grant process. Read the CDFI Fund Announcement.

“We’re excited by this major grant which allows us to support small entrepreneurs with great ideas”, said Karen Post, Treasurer & CFO and Co-founder of The Progress Fund.

David Kahley, President & CEO, said, “We’ve had an incredible winning streak. This is our eighth grant in a row from the CDFI Fund. I think this reflects our solid strategy and great team”.

The Progress Fund is a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that provides customized loans and technical assistance to businesses in the region’s growing tourism industry, local foods producers and small manufacturers. The Progress Fund serves western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and western Maryland.

Since its creation in 1997, The Progress Fund has made 487 loans totaling more than $62.7 Million and supported $131.1 million of new investment, which has helped 298 small businesses who have created or retained 3,704 jobs.