WesBanco Bank, Inc. generously used its community development corporation to leverage allocations of New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) to fund development and inject capital into highly distressed, low-income communities—located largely in rural Appalachia.
Their New Markets Loan Program is a unique model of using NMTC funding, certified as a Community Development Entity (CDE) by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. Among other criteria, a CDE must have a mission of serving or providing investment capital for low-income communities or low-income persons—and this program certainly does.
This project by WesBanco Bank focuses lending in rural, low-income areas especially in West Virginia and Indiana. This small-business loan program finances a wide variety of businesses that provide critical social and commercial services to low-income residents—and for the benefit of economically vulnerable communities.
For their incredible efforts, WesBanco Bank has been awarded a 2021 ABA Foundation Community Commitment Award. This award recognizes and promotes the many valuable ways banks of all sizes contribute to economic growth, community development and enhancing the quality of life in their communities—and is a true badge of honor for any bank to earn.
