January 31, 2023
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Gabriel Treves-Kagan
(984) 569-3507 | gabe@latinoccu.org
Vice President Kamala Harris Meets with Latino Community Credit Union and its Members to Celebrate Latino Entrepreneurship
Durham, NC, January 31st, 2023 –Yesterday, Latino Community Credit Union (LCCU) Senior Vice President, Vicky Garcia, participated in a moderated conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Small Business Administrator, Isabella Guzman.
The conversation was introduced by Marla Bilonick, President/CEO of National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB) and moderated by Jorge Buzos of Univision. Ms. Bilonick framed the conversation perfectly, explaining the important relationship between small, Latino-owned businesses and the community lenders that “are entrenched in the communities they serve… and fill an important gap by providing (them the) loans and financial services that traditional banks are sometimes not able or willing to provide.” She concluded by celebrating LCCU as “superstar in the community lending field.”
When speaking of community lenders like LCCU, Vice President Harris said, “they understand the capacity of the community. They understand the culture of the community, the mores of the community, what the community wants for itself.” These words beautifully describe LCCU, which has established a national model for financial inclusion and has provided $1.6 billion in loans to Latinos traditionally marginalized from economic opportunity.
“Vice President Harris is a proven champion of community lenders, including credit unions like LCCU. By taking the time to come here and meet our members face to face, the Vice President is recognizing their important contribution to the U.S. economy and LCCU’s role as a driver of economic opportunity and growth,” said Ms. Garcia.
Vice President Harris met several LCCU members who have used LCCU loans to start and grow their businesses, buy homes, and build generational wealth. Additionally, Vice President Harris and Administrator Guzman visited a local bakery owned by LCCU members.
The Vice President was also on hand to celebrate the federal government’s investment in community lenders like LCCU. As part of the U.S. Treasury Department $9 billion Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP), LCCU received a $99 million, 30-year, low-interest loan from the U.S. Treasury Department. This federal investment provides LCCU the equity to dramatically build its capital base and quickly expand its impactful public-private partnership model. LCCU is now positioned to raise significantly more deposits from mission-aligned private sector partners (e.g., corporations, foundations, and health systems) and immediately deploy those deposits as life-changing loans to those who need them the most.
Over the 30-year term, LCCU expects to raise $700 million in private sector deposits, which in combination with member deposits, will allow for the credit union to make 1 million fair and affordable loans, for a total of $30 billion in financing, to its growing membership of Latinos in the Southeast.
Vice President Harris concluded by underscoring that LCCU’s “1 million loans will have a profound, exponential impact on the economic health and wellbeing of the community.”
For a full video of the event, please see here.
About Latino Community Credit Union
Latino Community Credit Union (LCCU) is a full-service financial institution providing ethical financial products and education to over 120,000 members across the United States. Founded in 2000 in Durham, NC, LCCU has established an effective model for Latino immigrants to enter and thrive in the financial mainstream. LCCU is a bilingual, federally-insured credit union with Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Minority Depository Institution (MDI) certifications and a low-income designation. LCCU is one of the fastest-growing credit unions in the country with $910 million in assets and 15 branches throughout North Carolina. For more information, visit www.latinoccu.org.
