The Miami Foundation gets $20 million grant from Wells Fargo
MIAMI (AP) — A $20 million grant from Wells Fargo will help The Miami Foundation assist historically disadvantaged small business owners in owning more of their businesses’ assets and improve technology to better serve their customers, officials said.
The grant announced last week will help diverse small businesses and nonprofits through a combination of capital and technical assistance, Wells Fargo said in a news release.
“Minority-led small businesses and nonprofits are vital to the strength of our region,” said Rebecca Fishman Lipsey, president and CEO of The Miami Foundation.
Wells Fargo’s Open For Business Fund is a $420 million small business recovery effort with a focus on racially and ethnically divers small business owners who were affected disproportionately by the coronavirus pandemic. It was created from the gross processing fees that the bank received from Paycheck Protection Program loans made in 2020.
“Fostering an inclusive economic recovery and helping small businesses sustain themselves and grow in the wake of COVID-19 is a priority for us,” Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said in the news release.
The Miami Foundation will convene a diverse advisory council to assist with strategic program design and dispersment of the funds.
The Open for Business Fund has also supported small businesses in South Florida through grants to Florida International University’s StartUP FIU Food, The Urban League of Broward County’s Community Central County Development Corporation, the Black Business Investment Fund of Florida and others.
