Investing in Main Street America: OFN’s 12th Annual Small Business Finance Forum

June 24, 2025 – 

See a recap of OFN’s SBFF, where we celebrated the innovative work of CDFI small business lenders driving job growth, wealth creation, and opportunity in their communities. 

Read time: 5 minutes

In May, we celebrated Small Business Month, and in June, we convened in Austin, TX, for OFN’s 12^th annual Small Business Finance Forum (SBFF).

Throughout SBFF, we highlighted the work of small businesses in fueling America’s economy, creating two out of every three new jobs, and employing about half of the nation’s workforce. Beyond statistics, small businesses represent the heart of communities, cornerstones of culture and innovation, and visions of the American Dream in action.

“Entrepreneurship is the foundation of a free and prosperous Nation and the engine of the American economy — built by men and women who work hard, take risks, and believe in the power of the American Dream,” shared President Trump in his Small Business Week proclamation last month.

However, turning a dream into reality requires opportunity. And CDFIs work to create that opportunity for all.

Whether it’s a veteran-owned business in Ohio, a dog treat bakery in Alaska, or a family-owned automotive shop in Michigan, these small businesses share the backing of CDFIs.

Today, a rapidly changing federal policy environment and uneven economic impact threatens the sustainability and growth of many small businesses, CDFIs, and other mission-driven financial institutions that invest in them. Yet CDFIs have a long history of stepping up and serving as steady sources of capital, coaching, and hope in challenging and uncertain times, with 2025 being no exception.

CDFI Innovation Initiative

OFN’s President and CEO, Harold Pettigrew, opened SBFF with a call for our industry to innovate by creating the tools and solutions that will enable CDFIs to go deeper into communities and have greater impact. We’re leading the charge with the CDFI Innovation Initiative, a sustained investment to institutionalize innovation, reimagine the structuring of community development finance, and develop new tools to deepen impact across the country. 

The initiative will focus on three pillars:

• Innovation Council: A collaborative forum of experts, CDFI leaders, funders, and thinkers who will shape the direction of innovation across the industry.
• Innovation Center: An action tank will seed innovation and accelerate promising solutions.
• Innovation Fund: A blended capital pool designed to capitalize high-potential ideas from concept to scale, ensuring innovations reach the communities that need them most.

#SBFF12 Highlights

Topics and conversations at SBFF focused heavily on federal and state policy, innovations in small business lending, enhanced technical assistance opportunities to strengthen financing for our nation’s most underinvested entrepreneurs, and more.

View plenary recordings and other content from the event, including photos and breakout session materials, below. Also, keep the #SBFF12 conversation going on social media and CDFI Connect!

• Watchen Harris Bruce received the inaugural 2025 Inez Long Award, which honors an individual who embodies the spirit of longtime CDFI leader Inez Long, exemplifying servant leadership, passion, integrity, and steadfast commitment to innovation, excellence, and partnership
• More than 170 CDFIs, 15 different funders and investors, 6 separate federal or state agencies, and 48 other unique industry stakeholders in attendance
• Three plenaries featuring distinguished speakers from the private and public sectors, including Kirk Watson, Mayor of Austin
• Nearly 40 breakout sessions across 7 distinct tracks, featuring over 100 subject matter experts
• Four OFN training sessions totaling 175 participants, with topics including CDFI 101, small business lending, financial management, and impact measurement and management
• Tour of CDFI-funded small businesses throughout Austin’s changing historic business districts, where participants met entrepreneurs who are working to “Keep Austin Weird.”

Upcoming OFN and CDFI Industry Events

• OFN HR & Operations Practitioner Summit – September 12
• 41^st Annual OFN Conference in Washington, DC – October 20-23
• Promote your CDFI industry or other related event to more than 12,000 CDFI industry practitioners and partners on the CDFI Connect events calendar!

---

Save The Date

---

Stay Connected

Subscribe to receive regular updates straight to your inbox and check out our blog for the latest coverage from OFN and the CDFI industry. 

Follow us on social media.

More From OFN

Tags: CDFI Leadership, Community Development, OFN, Small Business, Small Business Finance Forum