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Inclusiv announced it received a $1.87 billion award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to distribute to credit unions and cooperatives to provide clean energy access to consumers, homeowners and small businesses in low-income communities around the country.
The award, announced Friday, is funded through the EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA).
According to Inclusiv, the organization will use the CCIA award "to provide grants for capitalization, staffing, training, software and other operating costs so community lenders can build and scale effective green lending programs."
Cathie Mahon Cathie Mahon, president/CEO of Inclusiv, said, "Inclusiv was honored to be selected for the EPA's Clean Communities Investment Accelerator. We are excited to get to work to bring the benefits of CCIA to underserved communities across the country. This award will enable us to direct grants and assistance to high-impact credit unions and cooperativas that create the conditions for an inclusive and equitable transition to a greening economy."
Inclusiv added in Friday's statement, "We will drive growth in local and national markets for green lending by expanding our Solar and Green Lending Training and Technical Assistance program for community-based lenders; updating our loan tracking software to support credit unions with required federal compliance and reporting; developing our consumer financial empowerment platform for climate resilience; and helping connect community lenders to minority- and worker-owned clean energy businesses."
Inclusiv stated it is currently working on CCIA program guidelines for participating credit unions and plan to have those guidelines published by November.
Uses for the grant money include financing the following for households and small businesses:
- Efficient heating and cooling systems;
- Efficient appliances;
- Electric vehicles; and
- Solar panels.
According to Inclusiv, funding will also go to other projects that reduce energy bills, improve air quality and health, create jobs and establish a greater resilience and financial security.
Officials said they hope this new funding will give the credit union movement the ability to scale its green lending capacity.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
