JPMorganChase is providing grants totaling more than $1.3 million to three Boston-area small businesses.
The grants were awarded to the Local Enterprise Assistance Fund, Philanthropy Massachusetts and the Boston Impact Initiative Fund. They are designed to help local small businesses increase revenue, improve operations and create wealth-building opportunities for their communities, while addressing the challenges of accessing technical assistance and capital, JPMorgan said in a statement.
“When small businesses succeed, they strengthen their communities by creating jobs, boosting local economies and expanding opportunities,” Chase for Business CEO Ben Walter said in a statement. “These grants, alongside our Coaching for Impact program, provide business owners with the resources, relationships and confidence to build lasting legacies – not just for themselves, but for their neighborhoods and for future generations.”
The Local Enterprise Assistance Fund will use the $800,000 received from Chase to scale their small business program, providing one-on-one business advisory services to serve an additional 200 small businesses and facilitate access to capital for clients.
Philanthropy Massachusetts received $200,000 and will use the funds to pilot a funder network across Massachusetts prioritizing small business development, convening funders and creating a learning platform to deepen knowledge of the challenges small businesses face in accessing technical assistance and capital.
Boston Impact Initiative (BII) will use its $315,000 grant to scale its Accelerate Your Impact Program, providing hands-on coaching for business leaders. BII will also support participating businesses in the program with access to capital from the organization’s fund and connections to additional capital providers in Massachusetts.
“Funders recognize that small businesses are critical engines of growth for the local economy,” Philanthropy Massachusetts CEO Mary Skelton Roberts said in a statement. “With this investment from JPMorganChase, our organization will be able to develop a network of funders to use their knowledge, resources, and power to position the state’s robust small business ecosystem for increased growth and success.”
Over the past five years, JPMorganChase has deployed $2.7 million to help drive small business growth in Boston, reaching more than 1,100 small businesses.
