This week has been particularly busy around Opportunity Fund as we strive to help truckers beat a February 16th deadline to retrofit their truck engines as new EPA emissions standards go into effect.  Truckers told Opportunity Fund yesterday that without these loans, they would have to give up trucking or move their business to another state.  We’ve made 24 loans to truckers so far.  Yesterday we were at the Port of Oakland meeting with 10 new borrowers as they sign for their loans.  We’ll be back again tomorrow to close more loans, too. The price tag to clean up their engines will amount to $12,000 – 19,000, well beyond the capacity many of the truckers have to pay with their $30,000-$40,000 incomes.  In order to help, Opportunity Fund has put $1 million in financing on the table to enable truckers to comply with the new regulations by retrofitting their trucks’ engines.  We are particularly pleased that these loans will help truckers keep their livelihoods and help to improve the environment in our local community.

Check out video coverage (below) of the event and read the press release for more information. Also, listen to the KQED 'California Money' story on these new loans.