The Community Foundation is pleased to announce an innovative new loan program that provides relief and recovery resources to small businesses that have suffered disproportionate economic injury due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Partnership Loan Program for Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses in New Haven and the Lower Naugatuck Valley is a $1.5 million revolving loan pool created by a public-private partnership among The Community Foundation Mission Investments Company (TCF-MIC), the City of New Haven, the Amour Propre Fund and HEDCO Inc. The program will offer partially forgivable low-interest loans of up to $25,000 for qualifying businesses in New Haven, Derby and Ansonia.
Now more than ever, our community needs the infrastructure supports that provide access to alternative funding options previously obscured from minority and women entrepreneurs.
The Partnership Loan Program represents a crucial step forward in The Community Foundation's new strategic plan to create opportunity in neighborhoods and among communities that have historically suffered from disinvestment and exclusion. It is one of many innovative investments that TCF-MIC is prioritizing for minority-owned and women-owned businesses and part of its vision to broaden and deepen its relationships in the community.
In addition to providing immediate relief, the loan program will help business owners establish a credit history and plan for future sustainability and growth. Small business has long been a viable vehicle for economic mobility, especially among businesses that last for at least five years. By investing in minority-owned and women-owned small businesses, TCF-MIC aims to address racial and gender disparities by creating new avenues for building wealth.
“We’re talking about small businesses in neighborhoods in New Haven and Derby and Ansonia, each of which employs up to 20 people, each of which has families who depend on it. In terms of the life of this community and the neighborhoods in our community and our region, we think this can make a big difference," said The Community Foundation President and CEO Will Ginsberg. |
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