With more than 35 years in the investment industry, Myrna Rivera brings to CDVCA’s board deep experience with national capital markets and specific understanding of the Puerto Rican finance ecosystem

New York, New York – August 12, 2020 – The Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (CDVCA), a community development financial institution (CDFI) and leader of the community development venture capital industry nationally, is proud to announce that its Board of Directors has unanimously voted to admit Ms. Myrna M. Rivera as its newest member.

The founder of Consultiva Wealth Management (Consultiva), Ms. Rivera has a long-standing professional career as an institutional investment advisor and contributes valuable experience in spurring economic growth and community development through private capital investment strategies. Headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico and serving over 120 investors on the Island and in cities along the U.S. eastern seaboard, Consultiva has been recognized as a leading women-owned investment advisory firm over the last decade, and Myrna has received multiple awards for her entrepreneurial leadership and contributions to Puerto Rican and Hispanic communities. “We are pleased to welcome Myrna to the CDVCA Board,” said Ray Moncrief, Chairman of the Board of CDVCA. “She is passionate about social justice and investing in the double-bottom line”. Myrna, who is expected to make valuable contributions to CDVCA’s decision-making processes, commented that “it’s a privilege to contribute my understanding of the investor mindset and help diversify CDVCA’s knowledge base and social capital as we continue to impact underinvested areas.”

We are pleased to announce that Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (CDVCA) has received $50 million in New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) allocation to make business investments in underserved communities. The tax credit allocation is part of the highly competitive federal NMTC program, run by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s CDFI Fund.

CDVCA has a long history of providing critical growth capital to help grow businesses and economies of distressed areas, supporting nearly 300 businesses and the creation of over 12,000 jobs.
With its $50 million in new allocation, CDVCA will target operating businesses, based in low income communities on the mainland and Puerto Rico, focused on creating a large number of quality jobs and that may have a workforce development component to them that are accessible to low-income people.

Read the CDFI Fund’s full announcement here – CDFI Fund Announces More Than $3.5 Billion in New Markets Tax Credits.

https://www.cdfifund.gov/news-events/Pages/news-detail.aspx?NewsID=385&Category=Press%20Releases

The March 9 deadline is fast approaching for members of the public to submit comments to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) regarding proposed changes to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. OFN has published our draft recommendations so community development financial institution (CDFI) supporters can understand our views on an issue of critical importance to the people and places CDFIs serve.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/01/09/2019-27940/community-reinvestment-act-regulations

The 18th Peer Group meeting has been confirmed for April 1 – 3, 2020 in San Juan Puerto Rico.

This is a closed-group meeting of fund managers. Please email cdvca@cdvca.org for further information

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced today that it received a total of 206 applications under the 2019 round of the New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program). The NMTC Program advances economic development in economically distressed communities by making tax credit allocations available to Community Development Entities (CDEs) for targeted investments in eligible areas.

The CDEs that applied under the 2019 round are headquartered in 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These applicants requested an aggregate total of $14.7 billion in NMTC allocation authority, over four times the $3.5 billion in authority available for the 2019 round.

https://www.cdfifund.gov/news-events/Pages/news-detail.aspx?NewsID=365&Category=Updates

The Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (CDVCA) is pleased to announce that the Puerto Rico Fund for Growth, L.P. has invested $4 million in Semillero Investment Fund I, LLC (“Semillero”), an agribusiness, private equity fund based on the island. Semillero will focus on investing in sustainable food and agriculture businesses with a view to substitute food imports with local production in Puerto Rico. We are excited about this because, even before the hurricane, 85% of food and beverage consumed in Puerto Rico was imported. The opportunity for import substitution of just 15% of those imports is a $1 billion market, which has the potential to create jobs and economic value across the island’s economy, the significance of which is only amplified in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

The Puerto Rico Fund for Growth, L.P. is a fund of funds investing in debt, venture capital, and private equity funds that invest in businesses that operate or provide employment in Puerto Rico. The Fund is managed by a wholly-owned subsidiary of CDVCA.

The CDFI Fund recently released its summary report on the NMTC Program, providing an analysis of all reported NMTC investment activity and including breakdowns by sector, geography, and investment type (real estate vs. non-real estate; rural vs. metro areas). Of the investments made under the program, over 75% meet at least one category of Severe Distress*. To view the entirety of the report, click here.

*The following are the Severe Distress Criteria enlisted by the CDFI Fund: (1) poverty rates of 30 percent or greater; (2) median family income at or below 60 percent of applicable area median income; or (3) unemployment rates at least one and a half times the national average.