Leading global financial services firm JPMorgan Chase has announced an expansion of its Entrepreneurs of Color Fund model to the Washington, D.C. area with a $6.7 million in available funding to support underserved minority entrepreneurs in the region.
D.C.-based Clark Foundation and Capital Impact Partners together contributed $3 million of the total, while JPMorgan Chase Foundation invested the rest of the funding.
Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan Chase, said making the economy work for more people is a business imperative and not just a moral obligation. “We are expanding our existing commitment to help create economic opportunity for more black families, businesses, employees, and communities,” said Dimon.
According to Peter Scher, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Region for JPMorgan Chase, investing in minority-owned businesses is one of the most effective ways to drive job growth and economic opportunity in the region.
“The Greater Washington region is thriving, but the opportunity is not shared equally. With the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund, we are bringing a proven model that expands access to capital across our region and will help ensure that more people have a chance to participate in our growing economy,” said Scher.
Entrepreneurs of Color Fund expands to Washington D.C. https://t.co/n0c4eRuCAN
— Fondof DC (@FondofDC) February 13, 2019
In a statement, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said that by together expanding access to capital and supporting local entrepreneurs, more Washingtonians are being given a fair shot.
“Small and local businesses are not only the backbone of our economy, they are also an opportunity for our residents to participate in D.C.’s prosperity. By expanding the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund to Washington, D.C., JPMorgan Chase will support the local work we are doing to create pathways to the middle class for residents across all eight wards,” said Bowser.
Washington, D.C.’s small businesses can together bring down the unemployment rate in the city to a greater extent by employing just one more person per business, according to the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.
Last year, JPMorgan also announced its plans to open 70 bank branches in the D.C. region, and 20 percent of those branches will be opened in low-to-moderate income communities. JPMorgan has also announced Advancing Black Pathways, a new countrywide initiative for growing efforts to build wealth.
More information about the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund is available here.
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