Welcome! We’re excited to be launching the Business Impact NW blog. Some of the topics we’ll be featuring include small business profiles, partner program information and information on getting financing to underserved business owners.
Our first post is from Business Impact NW’s Founding Executive Director, John Renforth.
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Breaking New Ground in Community Collaboration
Great things happen when organizations with a similar goals and mission alignment, pool resources. This is especially true when that goal is to create a positive impact on local communities.
Supporting small businesses provides this impact. Growth of small local businesses creates jobs, helps families develop financial independence, and rebuilds local communities by attracting new investment by other local businesses, new housing and more retail activity.
At Business Impact NW, we believe that maximum impact will be gained by creating a coalition of northwest partners who believe more can be done to help the owners of the newest small businesses—those who typically face difficulties when seeking funds to fuel growth.
Breaking new ground in community collaboration, our work brings together a committed group of diverse small business loan providers, business counseling and training programs, local university business schools and community organizations serving small businesses, and then connects these partners with small business owners pursuing growth.
This unique collaboration works to get more capital to small businesses in northwest communities. We target women-, people of color- and veteran-owned businesses whose owners are often low-to-moderate income.
But, supporting small business growth takes more than making funds available for more loans.
Ensuring success requires helping small business owners develop the skills needed to better manage their businesses, to plan for growth and to manage the new funds to fuel that growth. That is why our partners include consulting and training providers — and some of our loan programs require enrollment in a business development program before applying for a loan.
Business Impact NW appreciates the creativity and shared commitment our partners. By working together in Washington and Oregon, we are supporting exciting stories of small business growth that builds thriving families and strong local communities. We’ll be sharing those stories here.
More information on our partners will be shared in future blog posts and can be found on our website. If you would like to find out how your company or organization can join our efforts, please contact Joe Sky-Tucker, Deputy Director/Chief Program Officer, at 206-605-4122.
