JPMorgan Chase is committing $1 million to help vulnerable and minority-owned small businesses with liquidity and support services on Long Island and New York City, the company announced Thursday.
The investment is part of an $8.5 million initiative to help impacted businesses in the New York Metro area, four other cities nationwide, and five countries that have been hard hit by COVID-19. This investment in immediate relief efforts is part of the firm’s $50 million global philanthropic commitment to address the immediate and long-term challenges resulting from the global pandemic.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our communities and JPMorgan Chase is committed to supporting vulnerable small businesses, and minority-owned small businesses, through this unprecedented time,” said Ted Archer, head of Small Business Philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase. “We’re proud to work with our trusted community partners to provide immediate, local relief for vulnerable small businesses today, and will continue to deploy investments to help the most vulnerable communities and people recover from the COVID-19 crisis in the future.”
The philanthropic investment will help local Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) provide immediate liquidity and support services to vulnerable small businesses, including minority-owned small businesses. Many of these businesses are either unlikely to qualify for a traditional Small Business Administration (SBA) loan or desperately need a short-term bridge until SBA funds are available.
Building on the foundation laid by current Entrepreneurs of Color Fund partners, Pursuit and Accion East, the firm will collaborate with New York City metro partners, including Renaissance Economic Development Corporation, Trufund Financial Corporation and BOC Capital, expanding the program. They will receive a combined $1 million to create an Entrepreneurs of Color Fund (EOCF) Relief Fund as part of the firm’s investment.
The selected CDFIs have demonstrated experience providing financial and technical support to minority-owned business in disaster recovery situations and through EOCF, Ascend, PRO Neighborhoods and other small business support programs.
