HOUSTON, Oct. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Small
businesses make up over eighty percent of a local economy's
vibrancy. The number of businesses impacted by the hurricanes that
have hit the U.S. coasts is still unknown, but the work to rebuild
communities is immediate.
LiftFund, a non-profit business lender, with the generous
support of JPMorgan Chase, Groupon and Goldman Sachs 10,000
Small Businesses has established a relief fund to support small
business affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
With an initial $1.3 million in
capital, including $1 million from
JPMorgan Chase's Small Business Forward initiative, LiftFund's
hurricane relief loan fund will help small businesses along the
Texas Gulf Coast and Florida
rebuild after the devastation caused by the September
hurricanes.
LiftFund's hurricane relief loan fund has reached $1.3 million in capital to provide a combination
of products and support services, including low to zero interest
loans to small business owners affected by Hurricanes Harvey and
Irma.
"For Houston to fully recover,
our small businesses must remain strong engines of economic
opportunity," said Nataly Marks,
Managing Director for JPMorgan Chase in Houston. "JPMorgan Chase is proud to stand
with LiftFund - an experienced microlender with a strong track
record - and all the small businesses seeking to rebuild after
Harvey."
"It's critical that when we rebuild our communities, we rebuild
for homes, for corporations, and for small businesses. With our
partners, we are here to support small businesses in the wake of
the hurricanes. We know timing is of the essence, and we are ready
to help them rebuild and reopen with our hurricane relief loan
fund," said Janie Barrera, LiftFund
President and CEO.
"Small businesses are the backbone of the communities they
serve, and many absorbed significant damage from the recent
hurricanes," said Groupon CEO Rich
Williams. "The local impact of shuttered businesses will be
felt long after the initial disaster. Helping businesses with
much-needed access to capital is a key way we can help these
communities along the road to recovery."
"We're proud to partner with LiftFund, a longstanding lending
partner in the 10,000 Small Businesses program, to ensure
that small business owners affected by the storm receive both
immediate help as well as longer term support that will help them
recover and rebuild," said Margaret
Anadu, Goldman Sachs Managing Director. "This grant will
supplement Goldman Sachs' overall response to these storms
including over $1 million in
donations as well as employee volunteer initiatives benefiting a
range of nonprofit organizations in Houston and Florida."
LiftFund has historically supported small businesses through
similar catastrophes like Hurricanes Katrina (2005), Ike (2008),
and Sandy (2012), developing specific products and services to
alleviate the needs of impacted small businesses.
Small business owners in Houston, along the Texas Gulf Coast and
Florida can visit
www.liftfund.com/hurricane-relief-resources to learn about products
and support services specifically tied to LiftFund's hurricane
relief efforts. Or, impacted business owners may call LiftFund at
(888) 215-2373 or inquire by email at
harveyrelief@liftfund.com.
"LiftFund and our corporate partners stand strong with the small
businesses and our special assistance programs aim to help these
business owners get back on their feet," said Barrera.
To learn more about LiftFund's clients and keep up with the
rebuilding process in their communities, please visit our blog
post: Communities Rebuild after Harvey.
About JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase &
Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with
assets of $2.6 trillion and
operations worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking,
financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial
banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. A
component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase &
Co. serves millions of consumers in the
United States and many of the world's most prominent
corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P.
Morgan and Chase brands. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co.
is available at www.jpmorganchase.com. Follow us on Twitter @Chase
and @ChaseSmallBiz, and at www.facebook.com/chase.
About Groupon
Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) is building the
daily habit in local commerce, offering a vast mobile and online
marketplace where people discover and save on amazing things to do,
see, eat and buy. By enabling real-time commerce across local
businesses, travel destinations, consumer products and live events,
shoppers can find the best a city has to offer.
Groupon is redefining how small businesses attract and retain
customers by providing them with customizable and scalable
marketing tools and services to profitably grow their businesses.
To download Groupon's top-rated mobile apps, visit
www.groupon.com/mobile. To search for great deals or subscribe to
Groupon emails, visit www.groupon.com. To learn more about the
company's merchant solutions and how to work with Groupon, visit
www.groupon.com/merchant.
About Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses
The
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking,
securities and investment management firm that provides a wide
range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client
base that includes corporations, financial institutions,
governments and individuals. Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small
Businesses is based on the broadly held view of leading experts
that greater access to a combination of education, capital, and
support services best addresses barriers to growth for small
businesses. 10,000 Small Businesses is guided by an Advisory
Council co-chaired by Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein, Bloomberg L.P. founder,
president and CEO, and 108th Mayor of the City of New York Michael
R. Bloomberg, Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, and the Initiative for a
Competitive Inner City's Dr. Michael
Porter. To date nationally, 10,000 Small
Businesses has reached more than 6,300 small business owners
across 14 US education sites, and has deployed over 1,000 loans to
870 additional businesses.
Approximately 70 percent of participants have reported
increasing their revenues just six months after graduating and
approximately 50 percent of participants have reported creating net
new jobs in this same time period. 85 percent of program
scholars do business with one or more 10,000 Small
Businesses alumni.
About LiftFund
Established in 1994 in San Antonio, LiftFund is a non-profit
financial and business support service organization that helps
entrepreneurs strengthen their businesses, stabilize and increase
their incomes, create employment and contribute to the economic
revitalization of their communities. LiftFund has the nation's
largest microlender portfolio and is committed to providing capital
to entrepreneurs who do not have access to loans from commercial
sources. Since its inception, LiftFund has made over 19,000 loans
totaling more than $250 million.
LiftFund operates in 13 states – Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, New
Mexico, Mississippi,
Missouri, Oklahoma, South
Carolina, Tennessee and
Texas. To learn more about
LiftFund visit www.liftfund.com.
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SOURCE LiftFund