Zack Boyers celebrates 30 years and U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance’s legacy

Impact Finance is a national leader in investing, lending and syndications

U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance, a subsidiary of U.S. Bank, celebrated 30 years in 2018 creating community finance solutions to help build thriving neighborhoods, drive more equitable access to capital and accelerate the transition to a green economy. Now six years later, Chairman & CEO Zack Boyers crosses the 30-year milestone with the bank's leading Impact Finance division. He started out in commercial banking and joined Impact Finance (formerly known as U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation) in 1998.

"We began with a single affordable housing investment in Duluth, Minnesota, and now we provide financing in every state across the country," said Boyers, whose first deal related to St. Louis' City Museum financed, in part, through Missouri state historic tax credits. "I fell in love working on a million-square-foot project, utilizing esoteric financing tools to bring the deal to life."

This project fueled Boyers' life-long passion for the St. Louis region, where he raised his family and has continued to help lead and grow Impact Finance. With a continued focus on meeting customer needs and helping customers achieve their goals, in 2023, Impact Finance closed $8 billion in community development loans and investments, including $1.1 billion in affordable housing loans, $4.8 billion in tax credit equity commitments; $2.8 billion in syndicated tax credits; $672 million in estimated capital being committed to Black, indigenous and people of color-led clients; and financed 2.7 gigawatts of renewable energy.

"We've had great support from the company," said Boyers. "This has allowed us to grow and optimize community impact in significant sectors of our society, from affordable housing to renewable energy."

U.S. Bancorp Vice Chair and Chief Administration Officer Terry Dolan works closely with Boyers and Impact Finance. "I've enjoyed the opportunity over the years to watch Zack and the U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance team grow the business and become leaders in the spaces where we provide financing, from affordable housing and renewable energy to CDFI lending and tax credit syndication.

Through the Impact Finance team, we change lives for generations," Dolan said. "It's exciting to watch our customer relationships deepen and expand as the team continues to identify strategic and creative solutions."

Boyers joined U.S. Bancorp's Impact Finance organization as the fifth employee.

"I can remember staying up until midnight in 2003 closing our first New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) deal," he said.

Since inception, the team has been a leading investor in the industry and invested $8.145 billion of NMTC equity to provide economic development to communities. In 2023, Impact Finance invested more than $502 million in NMTC and Historic Tax Credits equity in 120 projects across the country.

"It was a heady time and it felt like we were moving mountains and getting support to charter new territories," Boyers said. "I loved that the work we were doing made a mark and that it still does today."