Premier Federal Credit Union wins grant from U.S. Department of Treasury CDFI Fund
GREENSBORO, NC (January 28, 2020) — Premier Federal Credit Union was one of only forty-four credit unions nationwide, and one of only four credit unions in the state of North Carolina, to receive a share of the more than $132,000,000 in Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund’s FY2019 Financial Assistance Grants. Additionally, Premier was one of only sixteen credit unions nationwide honored as a first time awardee.
Premier currently operates seven full-service branches in North Carolina and one branch in South Carolina. The $565,000 award will be utilized towards the launch of a new branch located in Asheboro in Randolph County, and will support the deployment of $7.2 million of new loans to residents in the county over the next three years. Premier’s focus is to assist consumers that are typically victims of predatory lenders as well as those that need to rebuild or establish credit history. “We are so pleased to join an elite group of national CDFI credit unions to receive this award. It is our vision to create economic empowerment in the communities that we serve and this award will enable us to make a difference in the lives of more consumers.” said Lori Thompson, President/CEO of Premier.
Premier partnered with Susan Brunner and Associates, LLC to assist with the grant application process. “We would not have received this award without the assistance of Susan Brunner, Sarah Taylor and the team at Inclusiv”, said Thompson. “Representative Mark Walker’s local staff also played a crucial role in assisting us with obtaining information we needed to meet the application deadline and we are grateful for their help.”
The new branch will offer convenient accessibility to safe, low-cost financial products for the local members and an opportunity for area employers to provide credit union services as an employee benefit. Premier will begin the search for the branch location in the first quarter of 2020.
About Premier Federal Credit Union
Premier Federal Credit Union was founded in 1963 and serves more than 28,000+ members with branches in Guilford, Cleveland, Rowan, Rutherford, Alamance, and Buncombe counties in North and Union county in South
Carolina. The credit union’s mission is, “To provide lending solutions that positively impact our members and communities”. PFCU’s loans are designed to lessen economic strain felt by the communities and families served by
the credit union.
About the CDFI Program
Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $2.4 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through the Community Development Financial Institutions Program and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $57.5 billion in tax credit allocation authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, guaranteed $1.61 billion in bonds through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, and awarded more than $434 million through the Capital Magnet Fund. To learn more about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov.
