Presented by the Greater Philadelphia Financial Services Leadership Coalition (GPFSLC) and the PA CDFI Network, the GRIT Fund’s success has drawn national attention to its innovative model that fosters a symbiotic partnership between the member financial institutions of the Greater Philadelphia Financial Services Leadership Coalition (GPFSLC) and Philadelphia CDFIs under the collective mission of providing accessible capital and technical assistance to Black and Brown-owned small businesses.
In less than two years, the impact of the GRIT Fund program on such businesses is already evident. Since the program launched in February 2022, 525 loans have been approved – 70% for Black and Hispanic/Latino-owned businesses and 30% for Asian, multi-racial, and other minority-owned businesses. There was great pride in the impressive number of loans made in a very short time. More than half of the five-year, 1,000 loan goal was reached in well under two years.
The success of the GRIT Fund Program was attributed to the regional bank commitments to Black and Brown businesses and the partnership with CDFIs that serve them. Banks acknowledged the critical partnership with CDFIs, particularly during a time of civil unrest, economic downturn, and more recently, high interest rates.
As GPFSLC Co-Chair Susan Lonergan of Fulton Bank aptly put, “CDFIs do the initial advisory work that banks don’t. As small businesses progress, they outgrow their CDFI lending relationships and eventually become customers of conventional commercial banks. Our goal is to help CDFIs to do more of the work with their existing infrastructure.”
The GRIT Fund increased the capacity of CDFIs in three areas: their back-office loan operations, capital for investing, and professional advisory services for businesses. The latter is fundamental to small business success – as Deborah OBrien of Bank of America commented: “The technical assistance and professional advisory services offered by CDFIs are one of their greatest strengths”.
This is a sustainable initiative that will continue to build awareness of CDFIs’ role in funding small businesses owned by People of Color. As Evelyn Smalls of United Bank shared: “Creating and retaining jobs and breaking down historic barriers to Black and Brown business success are ultimately the desired outcomes”.
Members of the GPFSLC Steering Committee:
Asian Bank, Bank of America, Customers Bank, Citizens Bank, Fulton Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., M&T Bank, PNC Bank, TD Bank, Univest, United Bank of Philadelphia, Wells Fargo, and WSFS Bank.
Partners of the coalition: City of Philadelphia, The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and the Urban Affairs Coalition.
Philly CDFIs:
Beech Capital Venture Corporation
Community First Fund
Entrepreneur Works
The Enterprise Center
Neighborhood Progress Fund
PIDC
Reinvestment Fund
VestedIn
Women’s Opportunities Resource Center
IMPACT LOAN FUND INC