About Craft3

We specialize in loans that strengthen our economy, our families and our environment.

History

Craft3 is a certified nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) founded in 1994 in the rural coastal community of Ilwaco, Washington. Since that time, the company has grown to serve the entire Pacific Northwest from offices in Port Angeles, Seattle, Spokane and Walla Walla, Washington and in Astoria, Bend, Klamath Falls and Portland, Oregon. We are a Northwest institution that supports strategies that strengthen regions and better link rural and urban communities of the Pacific Northwest.

Craft3 team

2011 – present: Craft3 expands its geographical reach to serve all of Oregon and Washington by opening additional offices to support regional resilience.

  • New offices open in Bend, serving Central and Eastern Oregon, Spokane, serving Eastern Washington and Walla Walla serving the Mid-Columbia Basin.
  • The Clean Water Loan program further expands to Clallam, Grays Harbor, Island, King, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum and Whatcom counties in Washington and throughout Oregon.
  • Craft3 launches the Conservation Bridge Fund to help organizations acquire sensitive lands, restore habitat and protect water quality, protecting 39,891 acres of land to date.
  • Portland Development Commission and Craft3 collaborate to prioritize access to capital for woman-, minority- and immigrant-owned businesses as part of the agency’s Neighborhood Economic Development Strategy.
  • Craft3 partners with Tabor 100 to enhance economic opportunity and social equity for African American and minority-owned businesses in the greater Seattle area.
  • We create Craft3 Capital Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary, to execute a grant award of $9.2 million by the State of Washington as part of the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) with the U.S. Department of Treasury.
  • Launch of a new Community Impact Investment Note through a $20 million private placement offering designed to scale capital investment from accredited individual investors.
  • In partnership with Self-Help Credit Union, Craft3 sells a portion of its Energy Loan Portfolio to increase capital liquidity for future lending.
2012-staff

2006 – 2010: Craft3 grows into the two largest urban markets in the region and redoubles efforts to focus on resilience.

  • Through a merger with Cascadia Revolving Fund, Craft3 opens offices in Portland and Seattle, making it the first true urban and rural CDFI.
  • The Clean Water Loan program expands to Kitsap, Mason and Jefferson Counties and the Port Gamble S’Klallam and Skokomish Tribal Reservations.
  • The Indian Country Initiative launches in partnership with ONABEN to provide alternative financial products and services to Indian Country.
  • Craft3 receives, and has since maintained, a CARS Rating of AAA2 – an indication of impact performance and financial strength and performance.
  • Home Energy-Efficiency Loans available to homeowners in select areas of Oregon and Washington.
  • Craft3 receives the Oregon Governor’s Sustainability Award.
  • Craft3 receives the Wells Fargo NEXT Award for Opportunity Finance for its energy-efficiency work.
  • Craft3 issues its first investment combining NMTC and Oregon State Capital Bonds to finance upgrades to Clatsop Community College.
2006-staff

2001 – 2005: Craft3 expands lending into new coastal communities.

  • Craft3 opens offices in Astoria, Oregon and Port Angeles, Washington.
  • Craft3 and the Oregon State University Seafood Lab create the Community Seafood Initiative to support coastal fishing communities.
  • In collaboration with Pacific County, Craft3 creates a new Clean Water Loan product to help homeowners replace failing septic systems.
  • Craft3 makes a loan to Holmgren Dairy, one of the first organic dairy farms in the Coquille Valley of Oregon.
  • We make the first investment in Indian Country using the federal New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) for the Shoalwater Bay Tribe Wellness Center.
2001-staff

1994 – 2000: Craft3 opens to strengthen resilience in Pacific Northwest coastal communities and the environment.

  • Our first office opens in the cannery building at the Port of Ilwaco.
  • Lending begins in the Willapa Bay watershed of Washington and in Astoria, Oregon.
  • Dockside Crab Pot receives Craft3’s first local loan for $145,000.
  • U.S. Department of the Treasury certifies Craft3 as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).