Members from the Memphis Metropolitan Green Financial Corporation launch Green Bank plan to invest in clean energy project for future generations.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The City of Memphis announced a new initiative called Green Bank, focused on investing in more environmental and sustainable urban development.
The Memphis Metropolitan Green Financial Corporation (MMGFC) is a nonprofit financial institution dedicated to advancing sustainable urban development and environmental stewardship in Memphis and Shelby County.
Green Bank CEO and President, Michael Harris said this project can provide cleaner energy, lower costs and implement green infrastructure while doing upgrades to small businesses.
He said they are applying to federal funding to bring revenue to the bank.
“It depends on the direction that the board is truly going to take us to up and running. A lot of the funds were looking at are federal dollars,” Harris said.
Memphis Mayor Paul Young told ABC24, the Green Bank was able to launch on Tuesday through a $150,000 investment by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
“It’s one of those things that has a triple bottom line. It benefits the families that are in the home, it benefits their pockets and it benefits the environment,” Young said.
Green Bank board chair Beverly Robertson said providing better air quality improves the lives for future generations.
“It also helps us to create an environment where our kids will want to live and won’t have to fight so hard,” Robertson said.
Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) said in order for the Green Bank to be beneficial to the environmental equality plan, it can’t shut out lower income families.
Pearson told ABC24 he believes homeowners have not had access to financial resources to improve their homes for decades.
“I love a lot of folk who live in a lot of different places in Memphis, but if you haven’t experienced the decades of harm, we need these monies to be going to the communities, to the companies that are in the areas that are suffering the most,” Pearson said.
Harris said they’ve applied for a change grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. He said if they are awarded the grant, it will put $5 million into the Green Bank.
“We’re going to launch a capital campaign to build a revolving loan fund so that we can generate the revenue to gain and open up the applications,” Harris said.
Harris told ABC24 it could take at least a million dollars before they have enough revenue before allowing loans. He said they are hoping to accomplish that by early next year.