November 11, 2022
CLEVELAND, OHIO, NOVEMBER 11, 2022 – Growth Opps thanks the George Gund Foundation for their unwavering commitment to equity and sustainability. The Foundation awarded $1 million to Growth Opps for the continued growth of GO Green Energy Fund. The GO Green Energy Fund was established in 2020 as the first African American led Green Bank in the United States through seed funding provided by the George Gund Foundation and Cuyahoga County of Ohio. GO Green Energy is number 16 of 23 Green Banks currently established across the United States and the designated Green Bank for the state of Ohio. The focus of Growth Opps has been and remains equitable deployment of financial solutions and capital. The Green Bank model allows Growth Opps to fund projects that will have an impact on the health, wealth, and well-being of the communities we serve. Disadvantaged communities will not be left out, by legislation and Growth Opps Mission, of these meaningful investments.
Growth Opps has been actively engaged with building blocks of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). With this $369B legislation signed into law, green-energy projects can advance across the country, including those supported by Growth Opps and other Green Banks. At Growth Opps, the pipeline of potential clean energy projects currently exceeds $650 million in Ohio with the unique ability to grow pipeline and advance renewable energy solutions across the United States.
“Environment incubates life,” says Michael Jeans, President and CEO of Growth Opps. “As we make this just transition to climate equity, we are thrilled to have not only a funder, but a thought partner in the George Gund Foundation,” says Michael Jeans, President and CEO of Growth Opps. John Mitterholzer, Program Director for Climate and Environmental Justice says, “The George Gund Foundation is pleased to provide this grant to Growth Opps, as they continue to be a leader in this important work. These dollars will support Growth Opps, as they capitalize on once in a generation federal climate policy that must benefit disadvantaged persons and communities.”
“This is the decisive decade,” Michael states, “and we are charging ahead with global perspective and inputs to build a best-in-class, equitable, and sustainable clean energy environment to Ohio.”
To learn more about Growth Opps or to keep up-to-date on new developments and activities, please visit www.growthopps.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram and subscribe to our channel on YouTube.
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About Growth Opps
At Growth Opportunity Partners (“Growth Opps”), we offer community development capital, services and solutions to growing small businesses, primarily located in or benefitting disadvantaged and underserved communities in Ohio. GO Advisory accesses industry expertise and diverse talent to provide management consulting that addresses complex or persistent challenges for companies, communities, and people. GO Capital is tailored to fund your business model when you need it. Growth Opps established the GO Green Energy Fund using a Green Bank model that can deploy mission-driven capital to support small – large scale, commercial, community, and industrial renewable energy project development.
About The George Gund Foundation
The George Gund Foundation was established in 1952 by George Gund, former chair of the Cleveland Trust Company. The Foundation funds programs that enhance our understanding of the physical and social environment in which we live and increase our ability to cope with its changing requirements. Grants are made three times a year in the areas of climate and environmental justice, creative culture and arts, public education, thriving families and social justice, and vibrant neighborhoods and inclusive economy.