President Trump Appoints Pathway Lending President to Serve Four-Year Term on U.S. Treasury Department Community Development Advisory Board
Clint Gwin, fourteen year president of Pathway Lending, will provide guidance as member of the Community Development Advisory Board of the U.S. Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Oct. 5, 2017) – President Trump has appointed Tennessee small business leader Clint Gwin of Pathway Lending to a key administration post, the White House announced on Friday, September 15.
Gwin, president of Pathway Lending, has been appointed to serve as a member of the Community Development Advisory Board, which advises the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institution’s (CFDI) Fund on policies and activities. Gwin will serve a term of four years on the board.
The CDFI Fund was created to promote economic development and revitalization in underserved and distressed low-income communities in America. Through its programs and resources, the CDFI Fund supports affordable housing, health care facilities, real estate developments, entrepreneurship and homeownership training, access to capital for small businesses, and job creation in urban and rural areas across the country.
Since 2003, Gwin has lead Nashville-based Pathway Lending, a CDFI that provides loans to small businesses lacking access to traditional financing options throughout Tennessee, and as of 2016, the state of Alabama. During his tenure, the nonprofit lending and education organization has grown significantly, becoming the largest CDFI in the region with more than $118 million in assets. Pathway Lending has originated 1,100 loans totaling $195 million supporting over 600 businesses. In 2016 alone, the organization’s activities helped launch 45 new businesses, create 640 new jobs and retain 2,100 existing jobs.
Through innovative partnerships with local banks, business support centers and state and local government, Pathway Lending is identified as a thought leader in the CDFI industry. As a member of the Community Development Advisory Board, Gwin will use his expertise to advise the CDFI Fund on policy relating to community and economic development.
“I am honored to be appointed by President Trump to the Community Development Advisory Board. I am also humbled by this opportunity to represent the more than 1,000 CDFIs from across the country that work tirelessly to provide capital to underserved urban and rural markets,” said Gwin. “I am reminded on a daily basis at Pathway Lending of how federal financial policy impacts the businesses and communities we serve, and I look forward to working with the other members of the board to assist the CDFI Fund in supporting the expansion of economic opportunity across the country.”
The Advisory Board consists of at least 15 members, including the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration. Additionally, nine private citizens are appointed by the President to provide for national geographic representation and racial, ethnic, and gender diversity, including:
- Two individuals who are officers of existing community development financial institutions;
- Two individuals who are officers of insured depository institutions;
- Two individuals who are officers of national consumer or public interest organizations;
- Two individuals who have expertise in community development; and
- One individual who has personal experience and specialized expertise in the unique lending and community development issues confronted by Indian tribes on Indian reservations
Established through Section 104(d) of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994, the Community Development Advisory Board advises the Director of the Fund on policies regarding the activities of the CDFI Fund.
UPDATE: November 16, 2017
The Community Development Advisory Board met on November 16 to swear in new Board Members. The Community Development Advisory Board was established in 1994 to advise the director of the CDFI Fund on policies regarding activities to the Fund. Read more in this article from the Opportunity Finance Network.
