Prestamos CDFI Gets $55 Million in Tax Credits to Help Communities

Prestamos CDFI, Chicanos Por La Causa’s mission-driven lending division, has been awarded $55 million in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. Prestamos is a leading Community Development Entity that provides capital and business education to businesses and community facility projects in highly stressed, low-income communities in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Texas. Prestamos has received $70 million in three previous awards.

“Prestamos exists to ensure that vital capital resources are invested in low-income Latino and minority communities. We are pleased that the CDFI Fund recognizes the value that our organization has brought to our four-state investment area,” said Jose Martinez, President of Prestamos CDFI and Executive Vice President of CPLC. “This new award comes at a critical time given the COVID-19 impacts to minority communities. This award will support investments in manufacturing, commercial, and retail businesses, and vital community based non-profits such as health care and educational providers.”

The NMTC Program attracts private capital into low-income communities by permitting individual and corporate investors to receive a tax credit against their federal income tax in exchange for making investments on qualified projects within economically distressed communities. Created by Congress in 2001, the credit totals 39 percent of the original investment amount and is claimed over a period of seven years. 

Prestamos is a CDFI and a Community Development Entity that provides small business loans and high quality technical support services to its clients. Prestamos has provided swift, active response to COVID-19 through its participation in the Paycheck Protection Program, technical assistance and other internal programs offered throughout our footprint. Prestamos successfully promotes business and community development and provides technical assistance, business capital and commercial real estate loans throughout Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Texas. Prestamos partners with leading organizations in our target markets including the CDFI Fund, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the National Association for Latino Asset Builders, SCORE, and state, county and local economic development authorities. Prestamos CDFI is an equal opportunity provider.

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Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. (CPLC) is a community development corporation that provides services in Arizona, Nevada,  New Mexico and Texas. Since 1969, CPLC has been changing lives by developing self-sufficiency and instilling empowerment in those we serve. Our focus areas are economic development, education, integrated health & human services, and housing. CPLC provides a better life through offering business and employment opportunities; ensuring everyone has the solid foundation of an education; providing hope through a pathway of recovery, restoration, and resiliency; and ensuring that a safe, secure, affordable home is available to every individual we serve. Today, we have more than 30 programs & services, approximately 1,000 employees, and 115 offices, making CPLC one of the largest community development corporations in the nation. For more information, please visit www.CPLC.org.