Neighborhood Bancorp announced today that it has been awarded a grant from the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund of the United States Department of Treasury through the CDFI Equitable Recovery Program. NB was one of 603 CDFIs nationwide to receive a share of the $1.73 billion in grants awarded through the CDFI ERP.
Neighborhood National Bank, NB’s community bank subsidiary, is San Diego County’s oldest community bank, having served the region since 1997, when it became the country’s first nationally chartered CDFI.
Neighborhood’s mission has always been to serve minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses and individuals in low and moderate-income communities throughout San Diego County, and the bank has a long history of providing much-needed banking and financial services in historically underbanked minority communities.
We are very pleased to receive this ERP award, which will boost our efforts to assist small businesses, particularly those in low and moderate income areas that have been most affected by the pandemic, said President and CEO Scott Andrews.
During the pandemic, Neighborhood provided over $75 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans to small businesses with an average loan size of less than $100,000, preserving over 8,000 jobs, the majority of which were located in the United States.
In 2022, nearly 80% of loans funded by the Bank were in census tracts with low income and persistent poverty, as defined by CDFI guidelines.
The ERP grant proceeds will be used to increase lending and other investments in markets that have been and continue to be impacted by COVID and its aftermath. Neighborhood is committed to serving local, small businesses and will continue to help them grow and prosper during these challenging times, said CEO Andrews.
