The Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp. has been awarded $1 million from the federal Community Development Financial Institutions fund.

Wendy Baumann

WWBIC, a CDFI, works to expand economic opportunity for women, people of color and low-income individuals by offering microlending and business training.

According to WWBIC, the organization expects the funding will allow it to leverage additional investor capital to meet the demand from its clients. It expects to deploy the $1 million over three years.

Seven Wisconsin CDFIs received grants from the fund in this round, for a total of $3.7 million. WWBIC’s was the largest grant. A total of $187 million was awarded nationwide.

WWBIC has received funding from the CDFI fund since 1998. It also receives federal funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Last year, WWBIC received $686,500 from the CDFI fund. Read the full story here.