ImpactAlpha, September 26 – A $4 million loan from New Orleans-based Liberty Bank and Trust Co. has boosted the lending capacity of Detroit’s Entrepreneurs of Color Fund to $22 million.
The fund, which lends to minority entrepreneurs, was launched by JPMorgan in 2015 in partnership the Kellogg Foundation and Detroit Development Fund. The pilot fund is part of the financial service company’s $150 million commitment to the Motor City. Detroit’s Entrepreneurs of Color Fund has lent $5.7 million to 54 small businesses, creating or preserved 600 jobs, according to JPMorgan.
The fund nearly tripled in size last year with backing from Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, the Kresge Foundation and Fifth Third Bank. JPMorgan has since expanded the model to New York, Chicago and San Francisco, and earlier this month launched a $500 million global economic mobility fund modeled on the Detroit pilot.
