History of Seedco Financial
Seedco was created in 1986 to provide a link between urban institutions, such as hospitals and universities, and community development. During Seedco's first seven years, its Loan Fund was the centerpiece of Seedco's work. To support our early lending activities, the Ford Foundation provided a sizable program-related investment. Later again with Ford Foundation support, Seedco launched a special financing and technical assistance program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to link them more effectively to community development activities. Other early lending initiatives included support for nonprofit employment and training initiatives and coordinated neighborhood development efforts.

In the late 1990s, Seedco's community development lending activities became focused on substantive areas including anti-predatory lending and affordable homeownership, a nonprofit venture network, and efforts to encourage business incubation in low-income communities. The Department of Treasury approved Seedco's status as a Community Development Financial Institution and offices were established in Birmingham, AL and Memphis, TN.

Post 9/11
After the disaster of 9/11, Seedco significantly and rapidly expanded its lending capacity to provide loans, grants, wage subsidies, and technical assistance to more than 1,400 Lower Manhattan small businesses with fewer than 50 employees between October 2001 and the end of June 2004. The initiative was credited with saving or creating more than 6,000 jobs in Lower Manhattan.

2002 to Present
With financial assistance from the U.S. Treasury Department's CDFI Fund in 2002 and 2003, the organization expanded its community development lending presence throughout the states of Alabama and Tennessee. In 2003 Seedco was also awarded a first round New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) allocation of $10 million, through its for-profit subsidiary, the Empowerment Reinvestment Fund, LLC. This was subsequently increased to $35 million in the second round of allocations and further increased to $75 million.

In 2005, because of the increased fund size and level of lending activity, Seedco spun off its Loan Fund into a separate organization that is entirely devoted to financing activities, Seedco Financial Services, Inc., a CDFI certified by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

Today, with a combined annual budget of approximately $65 million, Seedco and Seedco Financial work together to combine financing, technical assistance and model economic development programs with asset building/affordable homeownership and workforce development.