LISC Jacksonville, Wells Fargo Collaborate To Help Local Small Businesses Stay Open This Holiday Season

Jacksonville FL

18 December, 2020

2:15 PM

Description

Press release from The JAX Chamber: LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) Jacksonville is among the first to receive funding from Wells Fargo's new Open for Business Fund in the amount of $500,000, and $250,000 has already been allocated to help local small businesses stay open and sustain jobs as COVID-19 continues to significantly impact the local economy. Twenty-four local businesses are in the process of receiving grants ranging from $5,000-$20,000 from LISC Jacksonville, which selected the businesses based on several factors. The local grant is part of a larger fund from Wells Fargo to LISC National. "Many small, local businesses are dependent upon increased revenues from the holiday shopping season, but the COVID-19 pandemic continues to severely impact their bottom lines, particularly in Jacksonville's communities that are already highly vulnerable," said LISC Jacksonville Executive Director Dr. Irvin "PeDro" Cohen. "Local businesses desperately needed this 'shot in the arm' to help keep their doors open through what many are anticipating being an even more challenging upcoming winter. We are grateful to Wells Fargo for their contribution and commitment to make this happen at a time of exceptional need. LISC Jacksonville has leveraged the funds to invest in neighborhoods in which it has historically invested, including Historic Springfield, Historic Eastside, Northwest Jacksonville, New Town, the Rail Yard District, and downtown. For this reason, the 24 small business grantees were selected based on their location within these communities, how long businesses were required to close during the pandemic, and businesses that employ residents from their surrounding neighborhood. Wells Fargo launched the Open for Business Fund this summer as an approximately $400 million small business recovery effort across the U.S. to help entrepreneurs recover and rebuild. The initiative focuses on increasing access to capital, technical expertise and long-term resiliency programs and will continue into 2021. Wells Fargo has locally donated more than $600,000 this year in support of small business recovery and relief in the midst of the pandemic. "Wells Fargo's Open for Business Fund is another avenue of support for the small business community and it engages the expertise of organizations like LISC to urgently help Jacksonville's entrepreneurs recover and preserve the jobs they provide in the community," said Wells Fargo Community Relations Senior Consultant Valerie Jenkins. "We can all play a role in brightening the holiday season for small business owners by offering resources, shopping local and shining a light on how much small businesses contribute to the heart of our community." Since its founding in 2000, LISC Jacksonville has supported more than 2,100 units of affordable housing, 1.7 million square feet of commercial and community space, 3,000 jobs, and four Financial Opportunity Centers, while also driving strategies that expand entrepreneurship, reduce crime, address homelessness and improve health. This press release was produced by The JAX Chamber. The views expressed here are the author's own.