JPMorgan, Heron Foundation Award Multi-Million Dollar Grants to Help Launch Pilot Programs For Underserved

Small business lender, CDC Small Business, and Community Development Financial Institution, Capital Impact Partners, have partnered to create financial and programmatic support for small Black-owned businesses in Detroit, Los Angeles, and the DMV. 

In the 41 years the two companies have been operating, they have made over $23 billion in their respective areas of focus for the benefit of small business financing and community development, reports Black News. 

“Capital Impact and CDC Small Business Finance are industry leaders with a track record of driving innovative community development with an equity lens,” said Ted Archer, Head of Small Business Forward at JPMorgan Chase, according to a press release. “Now, at a time when CDFIs and CDCs play a critical role in the COVID-19 economic recovery, their alliance reimagines the scope, scale and impact mission-based lenders can have on underserved communities.”

With the help of a $4 million grant from JPMorgan Chase and a grant from Heron Foundation, of an undisclosed amount, their new alliance will focus on three target areas: communities, lending and capital industries, and funding and investors. 

By joining forces, they hope to find an inclusive way to use their expertise to help those disproportionately affected by COVID-19. They also hope to drive solution-based impact and offer recovery and relief needs to community members, small businesses, and organizations. 

“Community development without economic development does not build intergenerational wealth and pathways out of poverty,” said Kurt Chilcott, president and CEO of CDC Small Business Finance. “And, economic development without community development can lead to gentrification and displacement.”

In each of their place-based pilot programs throughout the nation, their teams will go into the communities and engage with local community members to understand the problems that are unique to each region, while sharing tools, programs, and services that are strategically customized to address high-priority issues reports Black News.