| Two of the Pacific Northwest’s leading nonprofit community development financial institutions are merging, creating a loan fund of more than $70 million to tackle issues affecting the region’s triple bottom line: social, economic and environmental well being, the organizations announced at the end of September. Both nonprofits are community development financial organization certified by the U.S. Treasury.
As ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia, the Ilwaco-based ShoreBank Enterprise Pacific and Seattle-based Cascadia Revolving Fund will take a more proactive approach by combining expertise and programming, greater resources and expanded geographic reach.
“As a single organization we can deliver more capital and information to the region’s distressed communities, and be a better partner to those who share our belief that a vibrant economy demands strategies that cross traditional boundaries between rural and urban landscapes” said John Berdes, president of ShoreBank Enterprise Pacific. “We recognize that we can do more together than we can separately, and the times demand we do more.”
As the first merger of its kind in the country, the effort is being closely followed and encouraged by industry leaders who agree scale is paramount to achieving long-term impact, officials said. More than $7 million in financial support of the merger has already been provided by private and public sources, including national philanthropies such as the Ford and MacArthur Foundations, and regional foundations such as the Meyer Memorial Trust and the Seattle Foundation, as well as the nation’s largest financial institutions. The U.S. Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund also joined in supporting the merger, with a large grant announced in August.
ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia will support efforts to promote job creation, community development, natural resource based enterprise development, improvement in water quality, family farming, minority entrepreneurship, and programs that address the special needs of recent immigrants and increase access to essential services such as health and child care.
ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia will retain headquarters in Ilwaco and offices in Seattle, Port Angeles, Port Townsend and Forks, Wash., as well as Oregon offices in Portland, Astoria, Coos Bay and Bend. |
