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Treasury Certification to Help Arvest Opportunity Fund Grow Investments in Struggling Communities

2 min read

Arvest Bank of Fayetteville announced that the Arvest Opportunity Fund has gained certification as a Community Development Entity by the U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI).

Arvest’s nonbank subsidiary provide loans and lines of credit to small business that fall just below bank loan policy requirements.

To become certified, the Arvest Opportunity Fund demonstrated a primary mission of serving low-income individuals and communities and maintaining accountability to those efforts to an advisory board, Arvest said in a news release. The lender in July established its advisory board, which includes six members from across the bank’s four-state footprint.

The Arvest Opportunity Fund is now eligible to apply for the CDFI’s New Markets Tax Credit Program, which aim to help attract private capital to economically distressed communities. The program permits individual and corporate investors to receive a tax credit against their federal income tax in exchange for making equity investments in specialized financial intermediaries like the Arvest Opportunity Fund. The credit totals 39% of the original investment amount and is claimed over a period of seven years, according to the program’s website.

“This certification supports our broader goal of providing economic stability and financial security to individuals, families and businesses, which helps create healthier communities,” Hillis Schild, executive director of the Arvest Opportunity Fund, said in the release. “I am very excited about the doors this may open for us and, most importantly, our customers and communities.”

The Arvest Opportunity Fund was launched in 2022. It serves as a bridge for customers to move from their current state to a position where they can fully access traditional bank products and services.

The program helped 181 businesses in its first year.

In March, it introduced EmpowerED, bilingual, mobile-first financial education resource to help consumers build financial health.

 

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