Opportunity Zone Magazine Volume 1, Issue 3 | Page 18

18 OPPORTUNITY ZONE MAGAZINE | VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 3
HOW COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
CAN PARTICIPATE IN THE OPPORTUNITY
ZONE PROGRAM
By Jerry McGaughy
CDFI funds and QOFs can play an important role of increasing capital in underserved and lower income
communities by partnering together.
T
he Opportunity Zone legislation was passed to motivate
economic development and bring jobs to communities
that have long been passed over. These distressed
communities have been unnoticed by mainstream capital
markets for too long, and now is the perfect time for
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and
Opportunity Zone funds work together in low-and-moderateincome
(LMI) communities.
CDFIs are community banks, credit unions and community
loan funds who are already working in the qualified OZ areas.
CDFIs know the communities and their needs, have
relationships with community organizations and legislators in
those areas, and already provide the debt or loans to the
businesses and development projects in the areas. A CDFI fund
is an entity under the U.S. Department of Treasury and goes
through the certification process to apply in regional areas to
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