The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. announced it will commit an additional $250 million to fund the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans through Community Development Financial Institutions (“CDFIs”) and other mission-driven lenders.
The firm is also launching partnerships with the National Urban League and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (“USHCC”) to ensure that both capital and information reach minority-owned businesses. These organizations, two of the 10,000 Small Businesses program’s earliest partners, are well-positioned to provide technical support to those minority business owners applying for PPP loans, while ensuring they reach traditionally underserved communities.
“We have seen the SBA’s program make real difference to small business owners, but it is not reaching them equally,” said David M. Solomon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We have surveyed our 10,000 Small Business alumni and it is clear Black- and Latinx-owned businesses have seen more significant damage, and that CDFIs and similar institutions can help address this problem and direct capital to these businesses most in need. That’s why we are partnering with and supporting these trusted organizations to ensure capital will reach the minority neighborhoods that are core to the vibrancy, well-being, and economic health of our cities.”
“The pandemic has intensified the historic economic racial barriers to economic opportunity,” National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial said. “Even in the best of times, Black-owned businesses have a harder time securing loans. As we face the most severe economic challenges in generations, we value partners like Goldman Sachs who are helping to build stronger, financially stable communities and open the doors of opportunity for entrepreneurs of color.”
The National Urban League is a historic civil rights organization dedicated to economic empowerment in order to elevate the standard of living in historically underserved urban communities.
“The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) is proud to launch this partnership with Goldman Sachs and CDC Small Business Finance, a mission-driven lender that has been serving minority small businesses across the country for decades, to provide and expand access to capital options for our small business members,” said Ramiro A. Cavazos, President & CEO, USHCC. “Many Hispanic-owned small businesses were left out of the first round of the Paycheck Protection Program and have not received funding yet. This new partnership will help walk them through the process in English and Spanish while providing more hands-on small business assistance.”
The USHCC actively promotes the economic growth, development and interests of more than 4.37 million Hispanic-owned businesses that, combined, contribute over $700 billion to the American economy every year.
Goldman Sachs has fully allocated its initial commitments of $500 million in capital, as well as $25 million in grants to CDFIs and other mission-driven lenders, which were provided to ensure these organizations have the necessary capacity to underwrite and deliver loans to small businesses as soon as possible.