New grants are part of five-year plan to
bolster community lending resources and unlock access to affordable
capital for America’s underserved small business owners
In advance of National Small Business Week, Sam’s Club and Sam’s
Club Giving are announcing their continued commitment to small
business owners—especially women, minorities and veterans—with $8.8
million in new grants. These grants have been awarded to
organizations dedicated to borrower education initiatives that ease
the top barrier to entry for many small businesses, which is access
to capital.
Many small business owners have the drive, the ingenuity and the
grit to make their business successful, but often access to capital
is a barrier to entry. Research published by the Small Business
Administration noted the struggle may be compounded for women and
minority business owners and that, despite their growing economic
significance, women- and minority-owned firms tend to have an
inadequate access to capital.
In 2015, Sam’s Club and Sam’s Club Giving announced the Small
Business Economic Mobility initiative, a five-year investment in
small business growth through increased access to capital and
borrower education. The initiative’s first round of grants totaled
$13.6 million to eight national nonprofit organizations that
provide access to capital and borrower education to underserved
U.S. small businesses, including women, minorities and
veterans.
Serving small business owners and entrepreneurs as members for
33 years, Sam’s Club launched the philanthropic initiative to
respond to the national struggle for small business owners in
low-to-moderate income communities to attain affordable loans and
navigate the lending process. By bringing together expertise,
business initiatives such as the recently announced Business
Lending Center and philanthropic investments, Sam’s Club and Sam’s
Club Giving are uniquely positioned to help small business owners
access affordable capital.
“Sam’s Club has a long history of helping small businesses get
access to big business savings, save money and grow their
businesses—that’s the reason our founder Sam Walton started Sam’s
Club,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, Walmart’s Chief Sustainability
Officer and President of the Walmart Foundation, which oversees the
Sam’s Club Giving Program. “When small businesses succeed, economic
growth and job creation follow, which is why Sam’s Club and Sam’s
Club Giving are committed to creating small business prosperity by
awarding grants to national nonprofit organizations that help to
increase access to capital and better education for underserved
business owners across the U.S.”
Highlights from this year’s Small Business Economic Mobility
initiative grants include:
Partner
Grant
Amount
Program
Accion $3.3 million
Strengthen Accion’s ability nationally to serve small businesses by
modernizing and streamlining its national operating model,
technology and loan-making process to better meet the demand for
credit and capital among underserved business owners, including
women, minorities and veterans. In addition, Accion in Chicago will
create an innovative program designed to counter the ill effects of
predatory small business lending.
Community Reinvestment Fund,
USA $2 million Increase
access to capital for underserved small business owners by growing
the capacity and capability of other mission-driven lenders through
helping them streamline processes and reduce costs directly
associated with loan origination.
Small Business Majority
Foundation $1 million Scale
business operations and grow educational programs for minority,
women and other underrepresented entrepreneurs, providing them with
resources and education in key areas of running a business,
including increasing their knowledge about how to find and secure
financing.
Grameen America $750,000
Fund access to capital exclusively for low-income,
women entrepreneurs to scale their growing microbusinesses. In
particular, Grameen America's members often lack access to
traditional financial institutions and mission-driven lenders. This
funding will provide capital, training and support, as well as
asset building services for underrepresented small business owners.
Lift Fund $750,000 Fund
program support, technology enhancements and capacity building
activities to scale efficient programming and spur economic
development.
SCORE American Small Business Championship
$657,000 Establish new mentor
relationships for SCORE with small business owners and provide
training to business owners about important topics such as
marketing, pricing and finance.
Enactus United States
$300,000 Create business borrower
education events (in person and online) led by university students
and local community resources to educate small business owners on
how to select a finance product that best meets their needs.
University of New Hampshire research
$35,000 Fund research project leading to the
better understanding of business models, common interests and
potential opportunities for partnerships between online lenders and
community development financial institutions.
The first round of Small Business Economic Mobility initiative
grants made in 2015 are already having a positive impact. Sam’s
Club Giving gave the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) a $3.6
million grant to support development of an educational campaign to
inform small business owners about affordable, responsible
alternatives to predatory lending. “With the grant from Sam’s Club
Giving, OFN was able to create Venturize, a first-of-its-kind
online platform designed to equip small business owners, especially
those of color, women and under 40, with powerful tools they can
use to make important decisions about accessing responsible
capital,” said Mark Pinsky, OFN's President and Chief Executive
Officer. “Venturize is a game-changer.” The Venturize campaign will
launch in May 2016.
Sam’s Club Giving and the Walmart Foundation are teaming up with
Small Business Majority and Accion to offer a free, one-hour
webinar on May 4 during National Small Business Week. The webinar
will help entrepreneurs and small business owners bring finance
into focus for long-term success. Participants can register online
and will learn background on the small business loan market and
providers as well as how to identify the right type of financial
product for their business needs.
For more information on Sam’s Club’s investment in our
communities, read the recently released 2016 Global Responsibility
Report.
About Sam’s Club and the Sam’s Club
Giving Program
Sam’s Club®, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), is
a leading membership warehouse club offering superior products,
savings and services to millions of members in 652 clubs in the
U.S. and Puerto Rico. To learn more about Sam’s Club, visit the
Sam’s Club Newsroom, shop at SamsClub.com, and interact with Sam’s
Club on Twitter and Facebook.
The Walmart Foundation created the Sam’s Club Giving Program in
2008 with a focus on small business support. Sam’s Club and the
Sam’s Club Giving Program, have granted $28 million since 2011 in
support of micro- and small business growth. In addition, Sam’s
Club provides annual community grants to a variety of nonprofits,
offers associate volunteer programs, and donates products to local
food banks. For more information visit SamsClub.com/giving.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160428005560/en/
Sam’s ClubMedia Relations:Dianna Gee,
1-800-331-0085SamsClub.com/newsroom
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