New York, Sept. 26, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- During the Recognition Dinner at International Economic Development Council’s (IEDC) 2016 Annual Conference hosted in Cleveland, OH, IEDC will present National Development Council (NDC) President Robert W. Davenport with the IEDC Achievement in Economic & Community Development Award. The dinner will take place on Monday, September 26th at The Westin Cleveland Downtown from 6:30-9:00pm.
“For more than forty years NDC President Bob Davenport and his work have been a cornerstone in the economic development community,” said IEDC President Jeff Finkle. “His leadership and work at NDC has built an enduring organization that has helped those in and outside of our field to understand the transformative nature of the work we do each and every day.”
Robert W. Davenport has devoted his career to America’s low and moderate-income people and communities. Davenport has served as President of the NDC since 1986. While the organization has evolved over the years, NDC’s mission—increasing the flow of capital to underserved urban and rural areas—has remained the same. Today, he leads nearly 90 professionals who are working in 100 plus communities to create small business jobs and develop affordable housing, real estate and community facilities projects. As NDC President, Davenport serves as Chairman of the Grow America Fund, Inc. (GAF), NDC’s Small Business Lending Company and CDFI and of the NDC Housing and Economic Development Corporation (HEDC), which finances and develops affordable housing, and a portfolio of community and economic development projects. Davenport also serves as the current President of the New Markets Tax Credit Coalition and has led NDC in receiving over $700 million in NMTC Allocation.
“NDC under Bob’s direction has become a national leader in developing and delivering products and services in support of low-income individuals and communities,” said Daniel Marsh, Executive Vice President of NDC. “From Affordable Housing, to New Market Tax Credits (NMTC), small business lending, social infrastructure, technical assistance, and training, NDC’s ability to leverage a comprehensive set of tools into a workable community/economic development strategy has helped revitalize some of the most distressed neighborhoods in our nation and we are thankful for his commitment and work to make such changes a reality. “
After serving in Appalachia as a community organizer with Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), Davenport, in 1972, turned his attention to economic and community development when he joined Citibank in New York City as a Vice President and New York Banking Division Credit Officer where he took charge of a $1.3 billion loan portfolio covering 230 retail branches and managing 90 employees. Later he directed the Economic Development Center, Citibank’s minority business development program. Under Davenport’s management, the Center, which had been operating at a yearly loss of $500,000, increased its annual loan volume more than nine times, to $27 million, all while meeting its goal of financing minority-owned businesses in New York. At NDC, he managed the growth of NDC from a training and technical assistance organization to a full-service housing, community and economic development consulting and community focused financial products company.
During Davenport’s tenure as President, NDC advised over a thousand municipalities and nonprofits, invested over $610 million in 8,000 units of affordable housing, provided over $210 million in financing to 528 small businesses creating and retaining over 13,462 jobs, developed over $2.5 billion in P3 social infrastructure projects totaling more than 3.7 million square feet and including 2,162 student housing units and 12,777 parking spaces, financed over $1.7 billion in New Market Tax Credit leveraged projects creating over 14,870 jobs and trained over 70,000 community/economic development practitioners. Davenport studied mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earned a B.A. degree in History and Economics from Stanford University, as well as an M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia Business School.
National Development Council
NDC’s work focuses on HOMES, JOBS, and COMMUNITY. Founded as a national nonprofit in 1969, NDC has worked for over 45 years fulfilling its mission to increase the flow of capital for investment in low-income communities. NDC directs capital to support the preservation and creation of affordable housing, the creation of jobs through training and small business lending and the promotion of livable communities through investment in social infrastructure. NDC’s products and services are deployed for the benefit of our municipal and nonprofit partners in both urban and rural low-income communities throughout the United States. NDC is headquartered in New York City with offices in Washington, DC, Seattle, WA, Cleveland, OH and Edgewood, KY. For more information about NDC, please visit http://www.ndconline.org