JPMorgan Chase Expands Entrepreneurs of Color Fund to Drive Inclusive Economic Growth in South Bronx and San Francisco
Building on the success of Detroit’s Entrepreneurs of Color Fund, JPMorgan Chase today announced it will expand the fund’s model and create two new funds to help minority entrepreneurs in San Francisco and the South Bronx. The firm is committing more than $5 million across the two cities to provide minority entrepreneurs with critical access to capital, while also recruiting additional investors to the new funds.
As part of JPMorgan Chase’s $150 million Small Business Forward program to help women, minority and veteran entrepreneurs, the firm will invest $3.1 million in San Francisco and $2 million in the South Bronx, with the goal of helping local minority-owned small business share in the growth of these two cities. The firm recently doubled the size of Small Business Forward from $75 million as part of a $20 billion, five-year U.S. investment that includes increasing the firm’s small business lending commitment and community investments to drive inclusive economic growth.
“Detroit’s Entrepreneurs of Color Fund has made a great impact creating economic opportunity, and now we want to bring this same model to San Francisco and the South Bronx to help more entrepreneurs grow,” said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase. “These cities are seeing tremendous growth. By expanding this fund, we will help ensure more small businesses thrive and create local jobs.”
Applying Insights from Detroit
Two years ago, JPMorgan Chase, along with W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Detroit Development Fund, created a $6.5 million Entrepreneurs of Color Fund in Detroit to provide minority-owned small businesses with access to capital and technical assistance as part of the firm’s $150 million investment in Detroit’s economic recovery. In December 2017, JPMorgan Chase and partners announced the Detroit fund would triple in size to more than $18 million due to the fund’s initial success, improving economic conditions in the city and strong collaboration between civic, business and nonprofit leadership...