SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Accion Opportunity Fund, the nation's leading nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to small businesses, is working swiftly with its partners at Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce and San Francisco African-American Chamber of Commerce to support Bay Area Black-owned businesses with advising, grants, and funding support, including Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans available now from the federal government. This comes as the nonprofit lender works to fulfill its $1 Billion commitment to investing in marginalized businesses nationwide by 2023.1
During the first round of PPP lending, Accion Opportunity Fund originated $1.5 million in loans for 115 Black-owned small businesses, partnering with the Chambers to provide counseling and expert advice on the PPP loan application process to their members.
"Black Americans are dying from COVID-19 at twice the rate of White Americans and Black-owned businesses are closing at the highest rates during this pandemic. We will not accept this," said Luz Urrutia, CEO of Accion Opportunity Fund. "By partnering with local Black and African-American chambers, we can build a more inclusive financial landscape. We want to ensure Black entrepreneurs get through this pandemic, while also working to eradicate bias and integrate greater equity and inclusion for entrepreneurs of color."
Bias and inequities have persisted in our financial system for far too long. Prior to the pandemic, Black-owned businesses were five times more likely to be turned down for a bank loan than White-owned businesses. It's not surprising that in the first round of PPP lending, White-owned firms received a greater portion of federal support.
In the first round of PPP lending, Accion Opportunity Fund moved quickly to become an SBA-approved lender and worked swiftly to originate $15 million in loans for over 1,000 small businesses, many of which are micro-businesses and sole-proprietorships. Its average PPP loan size was $15,000, one-fifth the size of the average size PPP loan in the second half of the first round of PPP lending. In June and July, Accion Opportunity Fund partnered with the Silicon Valley and San Francisco Chambers to provide three weekly webinars walking members through the PPP process, earning trust and helping the chambers' members complete applications. Its approval percentage for PPP loans submitted to the Small Business Administration is significantly higher than the national average, and 12% of PPP small business loans funded through the nonprofit lender went to Black-owned businesses.
"Our members turn to us for expert advice, resources, and a network of connections. Accion Opportunity Fund is a trusted partner that has proven invaluable to Silicon Valley's Black entrepreneurs during this crisis," said Carl Davis Jr., President of the Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce.
"Trust is at the core of this partnership. And from this trust springs forth collaboration and a can-do spirit to get the job done — no small task during a global pandemic that's disproportionately hurting and killing the Black community and our Black-owned businesses," said Dr. Matthew Ajiake, President of the San Francisco African-American Chamber of Commerce.
Providing working capital loans from $2,600 to $100,000 to underserved businesses — including flexible underwriting criteria, less onerous documentation requirements than other lenders, multilingual customer service representatives available to answer questions 7 days a week/12 hours per day — in a quick and customer centric manner is Accion Opportunity Fund's primary focus. Local chambers of commerce and community partners are key to that effort.
Ethnic chambers and other organizations serving minority small businesses interested in partnering with Accion Opportunity Fund to provide affordable loans to their members and customers can contact: Adriana Eiriz, VP of Sales and Partnerships, aeiriz@opportunityfund.org.
About Accion Opportunity Fund
In March, 2020, Opportunity Fund and Accion, The US Network, joined forces to establish Accion Opportunity Fund, the first organization focused on a national microlending strategy to meet the credit needs of small businesses – developing new products, establishing new partnerships, promoting research and financial education, and leveraging digital technologies to support mission-driven lending.
About Opportunity Fund
Opportunity Fund, the nation's leading nonprofit small business lender, believes small dollar loans help hard-working entrepreneurs make lasting change in their own lives and build stronger communities by growing businesses and creating jobs. Opportunity Fund's community of donors and investors is creating an inclusive financial system that empowers women, immigrants, and minority small business owners. Our strategy combines microloans for small business owners and New Markets Tax Credit investments in high-impact community infrastructure projects. Since 1994, Opportunity Fund has deployed more than $900 million and helped thousands of entrepreneurs invest in their families' futures. The organization has committed to lending an additional $1.2 billion to small business owners across the country and investing $174 million in community real estate projects by 2023.
Opportunity Fund has earned the highest 4-star rating by Charity Navigator for trust and transparency. www.opportunityfund.org
1All loans issued by Opportunity Fund Community Development, CA Finance Lender license #6050609.
