markets as well as further developing the secondary market for loans backed by other collateral types aside from residential mortgages. second, the increasing cost of lending capital makes extending affordable credit to their low - and moderate - income borrowers more difficult. third, cdfis are not immune to the challenges associated with hiring and retaining staff, and managing labor costs, that are faced by many employers in a tight job market. how the federal reserve system supports cdfis the board and regional reserve banks have long understood the unique value of cdfis. cdfis are key partners to our reserve bank community development programs and integral members of our board and reserve bank community development advisory councils. we rely on the insights they share with us to understand how low - and moderate - income communities are faring in the economy. the fed also supports cdfis through certain supervisory and regulatory activities, including through evaluation of compliance with the community reinvestment act ( cra ). among other provisions, the cra allows banks to receive cra credit for undertaking community development activities in cooperation with cdfis. as mentioned, cdfis were key providers of ppp funding in low - and moderate - income communities during the pandemic. the federal reserve's ppp liquidity facility created more opportunities for banks and cdfis to leverage funding in our most vulnerable communities impacted by the pandemic. 8 in addition, the fed clarified the capital treatment of funds made available through the emergency capital investment program, and provided technical assistance throughout the application process. 3 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches another key area of the federal reserve's support for cdfis is research, which is an area of interest for several of the reserve banks. in particular, i would like to take a moment to acknowledge the stellar research efforts of our host, the federal reserve bank of new york, related to the growth of the cdfi industry and the origination and sale of loans by cdfis. the latter was the impetus for today's event. i hope this research will facilitate more conversations and serve as a resource for the industry as cdfis and those who support them consider how to increase liquidity to meet demand. and of course, gatherings like today's event are another component of our role in supporting cdfis : bringing together thought leaders to share information and ideas with the goal of advancing the work of cdfis. conclusion in closing, the cdfi industry has been a critical source

relied to a great extent on educational institutions. the information collected by the department of education indicated that the percentage of employed individuals who took courses specifically to improve their current job skills rose between 1991 and 1995 ; by 1995, four of every ten full - time workers aged 35 to 54 had sought to upgrade their skills. the survey shows that growing proportions of workers with a high - school education or less and of those in production and craft jobs sought additional training ; however, college graduates and those in professional occupations still reported the highest incidence of additional coursework - - almost 50 percent. thus, learning does seem to beget perhaps both a capacity as well as a desire for more learning. this finding should underscore the need to begin the learning process as early as possible. in the long run, better child - rearing and better basic education at the elementary and secondary school levels are essential to providing the foundation for a lifetime of learning. at the same time, we must be alert to the need to improve the skills and earning power of those who appear to be falling behind. we must also develop strategies to overcome the education deficiencies of all too many of our young people and to renew the skills of workers who have not kept up with the changing demands of the workplace. the recognition that more productive workers and learning go hand - in - hand is becoming ever more visible in schools and in the workplace. expanded linkages between business and education should be encouraged at all levels of our education system. building bridges between our educational institutions and the private business sector should have payoffs in how well graduates are prepared to meet the challenges of an increasingly knowledge - based global economy. indeed, a recent study argues that we need not rely on colleges and universities to teach “ the new basic skills ” to prepare workers for jobs in a knowledge - based economy ; that foundation could be built in high schools if only more high schools were to ensure that graduates left with not only essential basic reading and computational skills, but also with training in how to solve semi - structured problems, how to make oral presentations, and how to work in diverse groups5. those researchers argue for a better connection between secondary school curricula and business needs - - “ vocational education ” in a very broad sense rather than the traditional narrow one. 4 jacob mincer, “ on the job training : costs, returns, and some implications, ” journal of political economy, vol. 70, supplement ( october 1962 ), pp. 50 - 79 ; and james