City's Brian Payne Moves to Lead "CDFI Friendly Bloomington"

Brian Payne, assistant director of economic and sustainable development for the City of Bloomington, will be the founding executive director of CDFI Friendly Bloomington, a new nonprofit focused on local community development. He'll begin the job on Sept. 3.

CDFI Friendly Bloomington, a 501(c)(3), is a community development financial institution formed in 2018. Its purpose is to provide investments for projects that don't qualify for conventional financing, as a way to catalyze small business growth, expand affordable housing and support community facilities in Bloomington and Monroe County.

Four local and regional banks – First Financial Bank, Old National Bank, German American Bank, and Woodforest National Bank – committed a total of $2 million in senior debt financing to CDFI Friendly Bloomington. In addition, the Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association (BUEA) and the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission each made $1 million capital grant commitments.

In his role at the city, Brian has also served as BUEA's director.

Alex Crowley, the city's director of economic and sustainable development, announced Brian's departure at BUEA's Aug. 14 meeting. He noted that in addition to this job transition, Brian recently moved to a new home and celebrated the birth of his daughter, Morrow – named after the county in Ohio where Brian and his wife met while campaigning for Barack Obama. Alex joked that these three major life events are "the trifecta of stress inducement."

The city will be searching for a replacement, but that job has not yet been posted on the city's employment portal.

CDFI Friendly Bloomington's board of directors includes:

• Tina Peterson (Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County, Regional Opportunities Initiatives)
• Warren Cutshall (Miller Real Estate)
• John Hamilton (City of Bloomington Mayor)
• Cindy Kinnarney (First Financial Bank)
• Jane Kupersmith (Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association)
• Scott Shishman (Old National Bank)

Click here for more information about CDFI Friendly Bloomington. Read a white paper on this project here.

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