Grow America

What Grow America does

Grow America is a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), headquartered in New York, NY, that deploys capital and advisory services into underserved communities across the United States. Formerly known as the National Development Council (NDC) and rebranded to Grow America in 2026, the organization has more than 30 years of operating history providing financing and capacity-building to small businesses, nonprofits, local governments, and developers involved in affordable housing and community development. It operates a horizontal, stakeholder-orchestrating model — bringing together local governments, public agencies, nonprofits, and developers from project inception to structure financing and build local technical capacity.

The organization delivers its impact through four core program areas: Investments in Housing and Community Development; Lending and Entrepreneurial Support (including the Entrepreneur Academy) — its 30+ year small business and nonprofit lending franchise; Advisory Support for Community and Economic Development, which customizes integrated plans for clients; and Professional Education and Training, which the company describes as the first training program in the community development finance field and which has trained over 85,000 professionals. Specialized offerings include New Markets Tax Credits, a Community Partner Toolkit, an EPA-supported Brownfields Technical Assistance program, and a Small Business Gift Guide. Core technology is not publicly disclosed, and the platform surface is a standard website (growamerica.org) with an online loan application portal (growamerica.org/getstarted) and a 1-800 contact line.

Grow America's go-to-market is consultative and sales-led, combining relationship-based advisory work with a digital loan origination entry point. Revenue mechanics derive from net interest income on its 30+ year lending book, fees and program revenue from professional training, deployment economics from New Markets Tax Credit allocations, and likely federal grant funding tied to its CDFI status (CDFI Fund, EPA) — though no revenue figure is publicly disclosed. It is led by President & CEO Adam Ennis (promoted in 2026 from COO/CFO), has 51-100 employees, and operates under U.S. Department of the Treasury oversight as a certified CDFI.

Name

Grow America

Legal name

Grow America

Website

https://nationaldevelopmentcouncil.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Grow America (formerly NDC) is a New York-based nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution providing lending, advisory, tax credit, and training services to small businesses, nonprofits, local governments, and developers in U.S. affordable housing and community development.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Development Finance

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Development Credit Unions (CDCUs) (FSABAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Corporate Learning & Training Content Development (EDAGAKAC)

Keywords

• Community development finance
• Small business lending
• Affordable housing financing
• Nonprofit advisory services
• Professional development training

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Lending and loan financing: Grow America provides loans to small businesses and nonprofits, generating revenue through interest income on loans extended. The organization has been lending for more than thirty years.
2. Training and professional education: The organization offers training programs for professionals in economic, housing, and community development, likely generating revenue through program fees.
3. New Markets Tax Credits: Grow America participates in New Markets Tax Credits programs, which generate revenue through the deployment of tax credit allocations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Grow America is a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that provides small business and nonprofit lending, structures financing for affordable housing and community development projects, delivers customized advisory services to local governments, nonprofits, and developers, and runs professional education and training programs for the community development finance field. It has been lending for more than thirty years and has trained over 85,000 professionals through what it describes as the first training program in the community development finance field.

Product overview

Grow America operates as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) offering a unified portfolio of interconnected programs. The core offerings include: (1) Investments in Housing and Community Development, which brings together stakeholders to structure financing for community projects; (2) Lending and Entrepreneurial Support featuring small business and nonprofit lending with over thirty years of experience, supported by the Entrepreneur Academy; (3) Advisory Support for Community and Economic Development that customizes Grow America's full range of services to client needs; and (4) Professional Education and Training, the first program in the field, having trained over 85,000 professionals. Additional specialized offerings include New Markets Tax Credits, the Community Partner Toolkit, Small Business Gift Guide, and EPA-supported Brownfields Technical Assistance. Formerly known as NDC.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Investments in Housing and Community Development Program that brings together local governments, public agencies, nonprofits, and developers to structure financing and build technical capacity for community development initiatives, including affordable housing and community facility projects.
• Lending and Entrepreneurial Support Small business and nonprofit lending program with over 30 years of operating history that helps borrowers develop equity, create jobs, and build their communities from within, supplemented by entrepreneurial support and the Entrepreneur Academy.
• Advisory Support for Community and Economic Development Customized advisory engagements in which Grow America advisors combine the organization's services, expertise, and contacts to develop tailored plans that help clients achieve community and economic development objectives.
• Professional Education and Training Training program that builds development finance capacity for professionals across the economic, housing, and community development sectors; the first program of its kind in the community development finance field, having trained over 85,000 people.
• New Markets Tax Credits Specialized program that deploys New Markets Tax Credit allocations to support community and economic development projects.
• EPA Brownfields Technical Assistance EPA-supported technical assistance program providing advisory services to communities for brownfields revitalization.

Quantifiable outcome

• Trained over 85,000 people in economic and housing development finance
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Reinvestment Fund: CDFI providing flexible financing for housing, community facilities, education, and small business, plus advisory and policy work. Directly comparable small-business/community lending and impact-investing activities.
• Enterprise Community Partners: National CDFI focused on affordable housing and community development through lending, tax-credit deployment, and advisory services, with very similar program portfolio to Grow America's investments and advisory practice.
• Hope Credit Union (formerly Hope Enterprise Corporation): Mission-driven community development financial institution providing lending, deposits, and financial services across the Deep South with integrated community development programming parallel to Grow America's model.
• Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC): National CDFI combining lending, investment, capacity-building advisory, and policy advocacy for community development. Closest comparable in mission, scale, and multi-program model to Grow America.
• Capital Impact Partners: National CDFI deploying capital and programmatic support for health, housing, and community development—parallel to Grow America's integrated lending plus community investments approach.
• Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI): CDFI providing business lending, investing, and consulting services for underserved communities in rural Maine and the Northeast, with a comparable mix of capital and advisory offerings.
• DreamSpring (formerly Opportunity Fund): National CDFI providing small business loans, advisory, and training to underserved entrepreneurs—an even tighter overlap with Grow America's Lending & Entrepreneurial Support and Entrepreneur Academy offerings.
• TruFund Financial Services: CDFI focused on delivering capital and technical assistance to small businesses and nonprofits in low-income communities, directly overlapping Grow America's lending and entrepreneurial support program.
• Nonprofit Finance Fund: CDFI and advisory practice exclusively serving nonprofits with capital, consulting, and training—closely comparable to Grow America's nonprofit financing and capacity-building segments.

Others

• Opportunity Finance Network (OFN): National membership association and intermediary for the CDFI industry, providing training, capital, and policy support that complements rather than directly competes with Grow America's lending services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/GrwAmerica
• Facebookfacebook.com/GrowAmericaformerlyNDC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/growamericaformerlyndc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grow America