Connecticut Green Bank Provides Investment Opportunities for State Residents

CGB Green Liberty Notes LLC, a subsidiary of the Connecticut Green Bank, is launching their fifth Green Liberty offering, a crowdfunding campaign made possible in partnership with Raise Green, an award-winning online marketplace for impact investing.

Connecticut residents - and citizens nationwide - can invest as little as $100 to support small businesses improving their energy efficiency and reducing energy costs. Raise Green is the first marketplace in the U.S. for local and inclusive impact investment into climate solutions.

“Through four offerings in 2022, we have raised more than $800,000, primarily from investors here in Connecticut,” said Bryan Garcia, President and CEO of the Green Bank. “The last two offerings were sold out and the number of investors across the country continues to grow. We are encouraging citizens to learn about the opportunity to make a difference and earn a competitive return on their money,”

Notes can be purchased through an online platform without a broker, with $100 minimums. To date, 67% of the investments made have been $1,000 or less, and more than half of the investors have been Connecticut residents, according to officials.

The ground-breaking Connecticut Green Bank was established by the Connecticut General Assembly in 2011 as the nation’s first green bank and has since supported the creation of more than 26,000 green energy jobs in the state, while reducing the energy cost burden on over 66,000 families, businesses, and nonprofits, according to data provided by the Connecticut Green Bank. To date, the Green Bank has mobilized nearly $2.5 billion into the State’s green economy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change and worsen public health, officials point out.

The Green Bank is offering investors from the first round of Green Liberty Notes in January 2022 the opportunity to reinvest their principal and interest in this offering. Anyone who invested in the first round and who invests in this offering, either by reinvesting their principal and interest or by investing a different amount, will receive an interest rate increase “as a thank you for their early support of the Green Liberty Notes,” officials indicated.

Investments in the Green Liberty offering support Eversource’s Small Business Energy Advantage (SBEA) program, which enables small businesses in Connecticut to reduce their energy costs through efficiency upgrades and zero interest loans.  As a result of the climate benefits associated with the SBEA program, this Green Liberty offering has been reviewed and verified for its environmental attributes by Kestrel Verifiers.

In 2017, the Connecticut Green Bank received the Innovations in American Government Award from the Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center for Democratic Governance and innovation for their “Sparking the Green Bank Movement” entry.

For more information about the Connecticut Green Bank is at www.ctgreenbank.com; about the new investment opportunity at invest.ctgreenbank.com.