County directory · West Virginia
CDFI lenders in Kanawha County, WV
2 are headquartered here. 3 more have a bank or credit-union branch here. 1 more say they serve all of West Virginia. Sources: lender websites (29 Oct 2026–4 Nov 2026), the CDFI Fund list (21 Oct 2026) and FDIC/NCUA branch records.
- Name this county
- 0
- Based here
- 2
- Branch here
- 3
- Serve all of WV
- 1
None of the lender websites we read names Kanawha County; the lenders below are based here, have an office here or serve the whole state. Lenders based elsewhere may lend here too. Search your exact ZIP code in the finder to include lenders based nearby. Towns in this county: Alum Creek, Belle, Blount, Blue Creek, Cabin Creek, Cedar Grove, Charleston, Clendenin, Dawes, Drybranch, Dunbar, East Bank….
Lenders compared for Kanawha County
6 with local records| Lender | Local records | Loan sizes | Head office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Whitesville State Bank Bank or thrift, Whitesville WV | 1 office here; 7 home loans here, 2025 | ask | 22 mi |
| 2. Element Federal Credit Union Credit union, Charleston WV | headquarters here; 4 offices here | ask | 1 mi |
| 3. Champions Funding, LLC Loan fund, Gilbert AZ | 4 home loans here, 2025 | up to $3M | 1,717 mi |
| 4. Big Coal River Bancorp, Inc. Bank holding company, Whitesville WV | 1 office here | ask | 22 mi |
| 5. Guaranty Bank, Inc. Bank or thrift, Williamson WV | 1 office here | ask | 57 mi |
| 6. CommunityWorks in West Virginia, Inc. Loan fund, Charleston WV | headquarters here | ask | 6 mi |
6 of these 6 lenders have received CDFI Fund awards, together $5.9M in fiscal years 1998–2024 (CDFI Fund award database; each lender page lists its awards). An award funds the lender, not a particular borrower.
Order: how many kinds of local record we hold (its website names the county or a town in it, headquarters, a branch, SBA loans or HMDA home loans for borrowers here), then the number of those records, then the head office's distance from the county centre. Loan sizes are the range the lender's website states. It is not a rating and nobody pays for a place. SBA loans: SBA 7(a)/504 data (FY2020–FY2026, 3 or more shown); home loans: HMDA 2025 originations (3 or more shown); branches: FDIC/NCUA; distances are straight lines from the average position of the county's ZIP codes.
Where these lenders have offices
5 lenders4 head offices and 8 branches or offices of 5 lenders on this page, within 35 miles of the centre of Kanawha County. Lenders with no office nearby may still lend here; many work by phone and online.
Head officeBranch or officeApproximate (ZIP code area)
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, © OpenMapTiles, tiles OpenFreeMap. Head-office points: U.S. Census Bureau geocoder.
Loan types confirmed on these lenders' websites
- Auto / vehicle loans (1 lender)
- Credit-builder loans (1 lender)
- Home repair / improvement loans (1 lender)
- Personal / consumer loans (1 lender)
Banks and credit unions with a branch in this county
4 certified CDFIs have at least one office in Kanawha County (FDIC office data as of 30 Oct 2026 and NCUA branch data as of 30 Jun 2026). A branch shows presence, not a stated service area; credit unions also require membership.
- Element Federal Credit UnionCredit union · Charleston, WVAuto / vehicle loans, Credit-builder loans, Home repair / improvement loans, Personal / consumer loans4 offices in Kanawha County · based hereVerified
- Big Coal River Bancorp, Inc.Bank holding company · Whitesville, WV1 office in Kanawha CountyOfficial list only
- Guaranty Bank, Inc.Bank or thrift · Williamson, WV1 office in Kanawha CountyOfficial list only
- Whitesville State BankBank or thrift · Whitesville, WVAuto / vehicle loans, Home repair / improvement loans, Home mortgages, Personal / consumer loans…1 office in Kanawha CountyVerified
CDFI mortgage lenders active here
Certified CDFIs reported 14 originated home loans for properties in Kanawha County in 2025 under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act: 0.5% of the 2,758 home loans that all HMDA lenders reported here.
- Whitesville State BankBank or thrift · Whitesville, WVAuto / vehicle loans, Home repair / improvement loans, Home mortgages, Personal / consumer loans…7 home loans here in 2025 (HMDA)Verified
- Champions Funding, LLCLoan fund · Gilbert, AZHome mortgages4 home loans here in 2025 (HMDA)Verified
Plus 2 more certified CDFIs with fewer than 3 loans here each (not listed).
A lender headquartered far away can appear here: HMDA counts the county of the property, not of the lender. Banks and credit unions below the HMDA reporting thresholds and most loan funds do not report, so other CDFIs may also lend here.
Source: FFIEC Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for 2025, snapshot frozen 2 Jun 2026, loan-level records read through the CFPB HMDA Data Browser API on 3 Nov 2026. Originated loans only; applications that were denied, withdrawn or not accepted are not counted. HMDA publishes each loan amount as the middle of a $10,000 band, so totals and medians are approximate. Counts under 3 are not shown. How we match lenders.
Small business and SBA lending in Kanawha County
Official statisticsMedian household income in Kanawha County is $60,943, 2% above the West Virginia figure of $59,608 (ACS 2020–2024).
Businesses here took 25.9 SBA-backed loans per 1,000 employer businesses over FY2020–FY2026: more than the median West Virginia county (21.2), rank 22 of 55.
| Measure | Kanawha County | West Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses with paid employees (CBP 2023) | 4,396 (12.3% of the state) | 35,839 |
| …of which under 20 employees | 83% | 85% |
| Businesses without employees (Nonemployer Statistics 2023) | 9,462 | 94,681 |
| Median household income (ACS 2020–2024) | $60,943 (2% above the state) | $59,608 |
| SBA 7(a) and 504 approvals, all lenders, FY2020–FY2026 | 114 (112 7(a), 2 504) | 1,144 |
| …per 1,000 businesses with employees | 25.9 (rank 22 of 55 West Virginia counties) | 21.2 (median county) |
| Median SBA 7(a) loan, all lenders | $100,000 | $120,000 |
| …with a certified CDFI as lender, CDC or third-party lender | 1 or 2 | 21 (2%) |
| Variable-rate 7(a): median rate over prime at approval, FY2024–26 | 2 pts (47 loans; 2% at the SBA maximum) | 2 pts (8% at the maximum) |
Approvals by fiscal year: FY2020 22 · FY2021 9 · FY2022 13 · FY2023 15 · FY2024 20 · FY2025 19 · FY2026 16.
For comparison, not an offer. SBA figures count approvals by every SBA lender for borrowers whose ZIP code lies in the county, not only CDFIs; approval is not disbursement. Rate over prime = the SBA's recorded initial rate minus the prime rate on the approval day; SBA caps it at 3 to 6.5 points depending on loan size (current prime rate and caps: methodology).
Sources: Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023, Nonemployer Statistics 2023 and American Community Survey 2020–2024 (table B19013); SBA 7(a) & 504 FOIA data as of 30 Sep 2026; prime rate: FRED DPRIME; SBA maximums: SBA 7(a) terms. Downloaded 15 Nov 2026. How we compute these.
CDFI lending recorded here (FY2022)
CDFI Fund data, released Dec 20246 loans and investments totaling $552,311 (median $73,050) were reported to the CDFI Fund for borrowers and projects in Kanawha County in fiscal year 2022, by 4 reporting CDFIs.
| Purpose (CDFI Fund category) | Count | Total | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other purposes | 6 | $552,311 |
CDFI banks and credit unions also reported 186 consumer loans in Kanawha County totaling $1.2M (Consumer Loan Report, tract totals, so no median); they counted 27% of them as serving low-income borrowers.
Loans and investments reported in other years: FY2018 6 · FY2019 4 · FY2020 11 · FY2021 84.
Only CDFIs that hold an active CDFI Fund award (CDFI Program, Native American CDFI Assistance or the CDFI Rapid Response Program) report these transactions, so this is not all lending by the certified CDFIs on this page. The Fund masks which CDFI made each loan, so we cannot say which lender listed here made them.
Source: CDFI Fund, CDFI/NACA/CDFI RRP Program Award Recipient Data Release, Transaction Level Report and Consumer Loan Report public files for fiscal year 2022 (released Dec 2024; downloaded 3 Nov 2026). Amounts are original loan or investment amounts as reported. Place = the 2010 census tract of each record. How we count.
Headquartered in Kanawha County
The official list gives a headquarters address here. Check each lender's page for where it lends.
- Element Federal Credit UnionCredit union · Charleston, WVAuto / vehicle loans, Credit-builder loans, Home repair / improvement loans, Personal / consumer loansVerified
- CommunityWorks in West Virginia, Inc.Loan fund · Charleston, WVOfficial list only
Say they serve all of West Virginia
Free help before you apply
These offices give free or low-cost advice: a Small Business Development Center or SCORE mentor can help with the business plan, cash-flow projections and paperwork most business lenders ask for, and a HUD-approved housing counselor can help with a homebuyer course, a budget or a missed mortgage payment. Some counseling agencies also lend; using their advice does not commit you to their loans. Call ahead to check hours and what they cover.
Business advice
- Charleston CenterSmall Business Development Center · 1116 Smith Street, Suite 307, Charleston, WV 25301304-957-2084
- In-Tech CenterSmall Business Development Center · 1900 Kanawha Blvd East, Charleston, WV 25305304-352-3954
- Putnam CenterSmall Business Development Center · 1116 Smith Street, Suite 306, Charleston, WV 25301304-957-2017
- West Virginia SBDC Lead CenterSmall Business Development Center · 1900 Kanawha Blvd, East, Bldg 3, Suite 600, Charleston, WV 25305888-982-7232
- West Virginia SCORESCORE mentoring · 1116 Smith Street, 3rd Floor Suite 311, Charleston, WV 25301800-634-0245
- Partner Community Capital, Inc.Women's Business Center · 303 Washington St. W., Charleston, WV 25301304-825-5000
Housing counseling
Sources: SBA local assistance listings, read 6 Nov 2026; HUD's list of approved housing counseling agencies (open-data version last updated 9 Apr 2025). For the current list and the services each agency offers, use the CFPB's housing counselor search (it uses HUD's list) or call HUD at 800-569-4287. Offices are placed by ZIP code, so distances are approximate.
Other West Virginia counties
Source: CDFI Atlas, cdfiatlas.com/states/wv/counties/kanawha-county/. © 2026 CDFI Atlas. Quoting with a link is welcome; republishing the pages or the compiled data is not (terms of use).