CIBC closes three investment deals focused on addressing the racial wealth gap and continues strong partnership with YearUp

CHICAGO, OCTOBER 4, 2022— As part of its commitment to help create an equitable and inclusive world, CIBC today announced investments to address racial economic disparity and the extension of a partnership to see the potential in all young people through career skills training.

Addressing the racial wealth gap 

CIBC announced three investments designed to address the racial wealth gap by creating financing opportunities for growth in underserved communities and access to affordable housing. 

First Independence Corporation 

CIBC invested $1 million in First Independence Corporation (parent of First Independence Bank), the first Black-owned and operated commercial bank in Metropolitan Detroit and the State of Michigan. First Independence Bank (FIB) is one of only 144 minority depository institutions in the country and one of just 19 designated as Black-owned. It is also the only MDI headquartered in the State of Michigan and the only bank headquartered in the City of Detroit.

This investment supports FIB’s growth, which includes their expansion into Minneapolis. CIBC’s investment, together with financial backing from other institutions, supports affordable housing and small businesses, stabilizes communities, and meets the financial needs to individuals in Detroit and Michigan.

NEF Emerging Minority Developer Fund 

CIBC made a $5 million investment in the NEF Emerging Minority Developer Fund in an effort to bring more diversity into the low-income housing tax credits developer space. CIBC has worked with the NEF Equity Fund since 2015, partnering with them on over $100 million of affordable housing developments. This industry produces hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing, often supporting communities of color, but economic participation by developers of color is limited by barriers to entry, the reliance on joint-ventures and shared fee arrangements, and weak balance sheets that result.

The fund is designed to pool the resources of investors to provide backstops for liquidity and net worth requirements, and wrap-around development consulting services to satisfy experience requirements for these complex and multi-layered transactions. The goal is that the next generation of emerging minority developers will retain the majority of economic benefits allowing them to build sustainable development and ownership operations.

Chicago Community Capital

Chicago Community Capital (C3) is a subsidiary of Renovo Financial, a non-bank lender for small real estate developers. CIBC met with Renovo over several years to discuss their plans to form a Community Development Financial Institution. CIBC’s recent $1 million investment in C3 Affordable Housing supports the need for more affordable housing, growing the developer/investor base to include more women and developers of color, and revitalizing and stabilizing communities in Chicago’s South Side. CIBC worked closely with C3, which is a CDFI subsidiary of Renovo Management, to ensure that the investment would result in lower loan costs than Renovo’s conventional loan offerings, that wrap around development services would be provided, and that the funds would be targeted to low- and moderate-income communities in Chicago’s South Side.

Creating career opportunities

YearUp

For the sixth straight year, CIBC partnered with YearUp to support students building essential career skills. The program enables students from various tracks, such as financial operations, software development, sales and customer support, to attend a six-month job skills training specific to their desired career path. Upon completion, the group at CIBC transitions into a six-month full-time internship at the Bank with the possibility of permanent, full-time placement. This summer, CIBC welcomed their 31st cohort to the Bank. Of the 30 previous students who have participated in this program at CIBC, 44% have been placed in full-time roles at the Bank.

“CIBC is committed to building communities that celebrate diversity and inclusion,” said Michael G. Capatides, President and CEO, CIBC Bank USA and Senior Executive Vice President and Group Head, CIBC US Region. “We are pleased to help promote economic independence and self-determination through these intentional investments.”