Great Lakes Capital Fund, Lansing-Based Community Development Finance Institution, Celebrates 20 Year Anniversary

Nationally-Recognized Great Lakes Capital Fund, headquartered in Lansing’s REO Town, Invests $2.6 Billion across Midwest in 20 Year History.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2012 - LANSING, MI - Great Lakes Capital Fund (GLCF) announced that 2013 marks twenty years of transforming communities from Lansing to Milwaukee, Alpena to Indianapolis, and Rochester to Chicago. Keep reading below...

Starting out two decades ago serving the state of Michigan as a small, nonprofit affordable housing investment organization, GLCF is now a full-service community development finance institution serving the Midwest. GLCF employs over fifty professionals who help manage the organizations work across its footprint which, in addition to Michigan, now includes Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, upstate New York and Minnesota. (See Our History, attached).

In the Lansing Tri-County Area alone, GLCF has contributed $116 million to local incomes and $14.2 million in local government tax revenue, totaling investments of $130.3 million. This investment has leveraged 1,736 jobs in the Lansing Tri-County Area since 1993.*

“Great Lakes Capital Fund is a true jewel that Lansing, Michigan, can claim as its own, and we are delighted to do so,” said Mayor Virg Bernero.

Investments made in GLCF’s twenty year history total $2.6 billion, including 30,000 housing units and 1 million square feet of mixed use / commercial space. This total investment has supported the creation of nearly 6,000 jobs across the Midwest. The investments made by GLCF come in the form of equity capital, short and long term debt, and a variety of state and federal tax credits. These financial resources support high impact community development projects and include participation by corporate investors; federal, state and local government; and foundations.

Mark S. McDaniel was GLCF’s first employee in 1993. He had no idea what was in store for him after he accepted the job to run the nonprofit that started with the assistance of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA). Jim Logue, MSHDA Executive Director at the time and now GLCF Chief Operating Officer, sought and received approval to award a $500,000 loan to the start-up organization. The loan was repaid in full to MSHDA, well ahead of its scheduled maturity.

“All I wanted to do was be the best man I could be at home to my wife and kids, and help people by providing great places to live,” said President and CEO of Great Lakes, Mark McDaniel. “I am incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in the past twenty years and I look forward to many more success stories in the next twenty.”

This model of community development finance has been so successful that GLCF partners with organizations around the country to bring its unique skills, services and expertise to assist them. GLCF works with Community Development entities that serve Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Minnesota. In 2011, Fannie Mae licensed GLCF to originate loans that support quality, affordable housing projects across the country. Besides Michigan, GLCF originated Fannie Mae loans financed in New York and Oklahoma.

In 2007, GLCF was designated as a Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) by the United States Treasury, allowing GLCF to receive $10 million in federal grants that support important community development projects throughout its geographic footprint.

*Statistic derived using formulas from the National Association of Home Builders’, "The Local Economic Impact of Typical Housing Tax Credit Developments” (March 2010).