Four Bands Launches “Opportunity Finance for Native Markets”
February 9, 2016
Four Bands has announced the launch of an initiative called Opportunity Finance for Native Markets. The initiative, funded by a $51,000 grant from the Citi Foundation, is designed to attract $2 million in new sources of capital and support private sector growth on the reservation.
“Four Bands’ lending portfolio continues to grow leaps and bounds. In the last five years we have loaned out over three times as much as all previous years combined,” says Lakota Mowrer, our Executive Director. At 2015 year-end, we had disbursed a total of $10 million to support business growth and help families strengthen their credit.
Through the Opportunity Finance for Native Markets initiative, we will collaborate with other local financial institutions and community leaders to develop and implement an outreach campaign to engage lenders, investors, and funders and build financial leadership on the reservation. The campaign will also introduce lenders, investors, and funders to potential financing opportunities in an effort to bring new streams of capital to local markets.
“Although we have experienced a lot of growth over the last five or ten years, we still see many opportunities to strengthen and expand our reservation economy,” says Lakota. “We are grateful to the Citi Foundation for their continued support, and excited about this new initiative.”
As part of the initiative, we will host an educational and networking event on February 25, 2016 at the Four Bands Community Fund Training Center from noon to 1:00pm. The event will introduce attendees to concepts of impact investing and other innovative financing strategies, and is designed to spur dialogue on attracting investors to Cheyenne River. Community and tribal leaders, business owners, economic development practitioners, and finance professionals are encouraged to attend.
“Four Bands is working to build financial leadership in the community, and the Opportunity Finance for Native Markets initiative, which includes the networking event on the 25th, is part of that effort. It’s about focusing on potential vehicles for driving capital to the reservation so we can continue to grow our economy and improve the quality of life for our people,” says Lakota.