Whether a manufacturer needs to expand its facilities, a start-up requires capital, or a town plans to improve its schools, members can tap Community Development advances to help get the job done.

What Constitutes Economic Development?
Members may use Community Development advances to provide financing for:

• Commercial initiatives, such as shopping centers, office buildings, and retail stores;
  
  
• Industrial and manufacturing initiatives, such as factories, bakeries, warehouses, and assembly plants;
  
  
• Public-facility initiatives, such as buildings and vehicles for police and fire departments;
  
  
• Social-service initiatives, such as office space for nonprofits, program facilities, and day-care centers; or
  
  
• Infrastructure projects, such as roads, sidewalks, utilities, and sewers.

Eligibility Criteria for Economic-Development Initiatives
To qualify for a Community Development advance, an economic-development initiative must meet at least one of the following criteria.

• The initiative creates or retains jobs for income-eligible workers.
  
  
• The initiative benefits income-eligible families.
  
  
• The initiative qualifies as a small business.
  
  
• The initiative is located in:
  
  
  • an income-eligible neighborhood,
    
    
  • a Champion Community,
    
    
  • an Empowerment Zone,
    
    
  • an Enterprise Community,
    
    
  • a brownfield,
    
    
  • an Indian area,
    
    
  • an area affected by the closing of a military base,
    
    
  • a federally declared disaster area, or
    
    
  • a state-declared disaster area.

Eligible Financing Activities
Members may use Community Development advances to:

• Originate eligible loans;
  
  
• Fund eligible loans that were originated up to three months before receiving the Community Development advance;
  
  
• Refinance eligible economic-development initiatives;
  
  
• Make loans to entities that, in turn, make loans for eligible economic-development initiatives; or
  
  
• Purchase a participation interest, or provide financing to participate, in a loan consortium for eligible economic-development initiatives.