In Washington state, you may now earn dollar-for-dollar B&O tax credits up to $1 million when you contribute to the Equitable Access to Credit Program. This new program, authorized by the Washington State Legislature in 2022 and overseen by the Department of Commerce, creates a new revolving funding source of up to $8 million for non-credit union Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) operating as non-profits to help widen access to credit for those who struggle to qualify for traditional financing. The scope for any contributions is up to $1 million per calendar year per contributor through 2027, and any entity with a B&O tax liability in Washington state is eligible to contribute simply by directing a portion of the B&O obligation already being paid by your bank. In addition, the contribution may be eligible for CRA credit by supporting underserved small businesses in the state.

The Equitable Access to Credit Program helps broaden the spectrum of options for those who are often left outside of our banking system and, therefore, often struggle to access economic opportunities for themselves and their communities. Operating as non-profits, CDFIs are certified by the U.S. Department of Treasury but are not depositories. This means that, in order to offer financing to their customers, CDFIs fundraise contributions from traditional banks, philanthropic organizations and now, in Washington, efforts such as the Equitable Access to Credit Program. Contributions to this new effort will help provide financing services to those who are not yet qualified for support from a traditional bank, but it will put them on the path toward that goal. A specific focus of the Equitable Access to Credit Program is to invest in indigenous and rural communities with at least 65% of the value of all grants awarded to be allocated toward these priorities.

As a member of the Washington Community Investment Coalition, we are proud of the mission-driven outcomes of the 16 CDFIs investing in our state’s communities. In 2021, we:

• Invested more than $81 million in more than 1,500 young and growing small businesses
• Invested $115 million total to finance individuals, businesses and non-profits
• Financed more than 700 homeowners and consumers and provided pandemic relief funds to more than 3,700 businesses
• Provided more than 8,000 hours of technical assistance and training programs such as business planning classes, financial literacy training and one-on-one business coaching

No community may fully access economic opportunity unless there is a range of financing options, from traditional banks to non-profit CDFIs. We are all partners when it comes to making someone’s dream of owning a home or starting a new business a reality. A CDFI’s services can also be critical for those with poor credit or medical debt struggling to find a financing option for their legitimate needs, such as assistive technologies for those living with a disability. My colleague, Emerson Sekins, Executive Director of the NW Access Fund, a CDFI providing services in Clark County, detailed in the Vancouver Business Journal how “the financial strain of having a disability is significant — a household with a person with a disability requires 28% more income to achieve the same standard of living as a household without a disability. It’s not uncommon for those that we serve to put their basic needs on a credit card, to have gone through a bankruptcy or a disruption in employment. This makes many families unable to qualify for loans and vulnerable to predatory lenders.” Your contribution to the Equitable Access to Credit Program will directly and effectively benefit those most vulnerable in our local economy while also directly lowering your firm’s B&O tax obligation. It’s a virtuous and proven cycle to lower barriers to opportunity in our financial system.

I hope that you consider making a contribution to this innovative new program so that we may deepen our investment in community members who today may not qualify for traditional banking services but one day will be able to walk through the doors of a major financial institution so that they may continue widening their circle of prosperity in their community.

You may learn more about contributing to the Equitable Access to Credit Program at https://www.commerce.wa.gov/program-index/equitable-access-to-credit-program/.

Patti Kibbe is the President & CEO of Evergreen Business Capital Community Finance, a CDFI, and Evergreen Business Capital, an SBA 504 Lender based in Seattle with offices serving communities in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.