Amidst widening income and wealth inequality, the decline of jobs that afford working people and their families dignity, financial security, and economic mobility is one of the biggest societal challenges facing our country. Resolving this challenge will require a coordinated, multi-faceted approach, including workforce development, large corporate employers, and changes to state and federal policy. And small businesses must be part of the solution. Small businesses — especially small businesses in the retail sector — employ more Americans than all of manufacturing, or energy, or even government.
Pacific Community Ventures helps small business owners grow and create good local jobs through a “Good Jobs, Good Business” model that combines affordable loans with pro-bono mentoring, tools and incentives to create quality jobs, social impact evaluation and field building research. In 2018, 68% of the companies we worked with grew their revenues. Half added jobs with an average job growth rate of 13%. These jobs paid an average of $22/hour (full-time) and $18/hour (part-time).
Today, we’re honored to announce that JPMorgan Chase is providing Pacific Community Ventures with a commitment of $600,000 to share our Good Jobs, Good Business approach with three other Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). Like PCV, these three CDFIs are part of JPMorgan Chase’s Entrepreneurs of Color Fund model, which is providing millions of dollars in flexible capital to meet the needs of hundreds of minority-owned businesses and encourage the revitalization of underserved neighborhoods in cities across the country:
- Detroit Development Fund is a CDFI established in 1996 with a mission to “improve the quality of life for residents in underserved Detroit neighborhoods. They support Detroit-based businesses owned by entrepreneurs of color and businesses that primarily hire people of color.
- Excelsior Growth Fund is a Bronx-based CDFI that helps small businesses grow by providing streamlined access to business loans and advisory services. In the Bronx, 80 percent of small businesses are owned by entrepreneurs of color, and EGF works to help them afford the space and resources they need to run and grow their businesses.
- Working Solutions is San Francisco-based CDFI with a mission to provide affordable microloans, customized business consulting, and community connections to start-up and early-stage businesses. Working Solutions fill the gap for Latino and Black-owned small businesses in San Francisco, who receive less than 10 percent of Small Business Administration loans.
All three CDFIs will help entrepreneurs grow their businesses and improve job quality – creating greater impact for businesses, employees, and communities. PCV will work with these CDFIs to incorporate Good Jobs, Good Businesses into their small business lending programs, while providing participating small business owners with support through PCV’s national mentoring platform, BusinessAdvising.org.
PCV believes that we cannot simply ask small business owners to create good jobs without giving them the tools, mentoring, and roadmaps to do so in ways that support their overall business needs. Our Good Jobs, Good Business toolkit provides examples, resources and advice to help small business owners boost their bottom line by creating jobs that help them attract employees and improve retention, performance and productivity.
DNA Motor Lab is a motorcycle repair shop in Hayward, CA. Owner Rodrigo Cedeño Jr. received a $100,000 loan from PCV and worked with PCV advisor Ryan Rasieleski, a Revenue Management Analyst at the Hertz Corporation. Rasieleski’s skills in finance, business development, and scaling operations enabled him to effectively coach Rodrigo to expand his business and tackle employee-related challenges. Using Good Jobs, Good Business, Rodrigo is investing in professional development opportunities to increase employee retention and build a stronger community at DNA. They worked to establish Performance Development Meetings, which are structured conversations with employees, where Rodrigo will work with them to set goals, celebrate victories, and discuss areas for growth. Through these conversations, Cedeño hopes to build lasting relationships with employees where they know their value to DNA. PCV has been working with small business owners for two decades, and our experience is that the vast majority want to do right by their workers. We’ve seen our Good Jobs, Good Business approach make a difference with our own small business customers and are thrilled to be partnering with Detroit Development Fund, Excelsior Growth Fund, and Working Solutions to collectively serve more entrepreneurs. We believe that together, we can create jobs which are good for workers, good for businesses and good for communities across America.
The post PCV Receives $600,000 from JPMorgan Chase To Bring Good Jobs, Good Business to Entrepreneurs of Color Fund CDFIs Nationally appeared first on Pacific Community Ventures.
The full and original article can be viewed on PacificCommunityVentures.org
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