South Jersey CDFI gets $500K from Wells Fargo to distribute to small businesses

South Jersey business owners will have access to $500,000 in grants from Wells Fargo through Camden-based Cooperative Business Assistance Corp., a community development financial institution.

The grant, announced April 5, is part of a national initiative to support small businesses impacted by the ongoing pandemic called the Wells Fargo Open for Business Fund. The funding is intended to help underserved small businesses stay open and preserve jobs and expand microlending activities and programming for diverse business owners.

Wells Fargo launched the Open for Business Fund last year as an approximately $400 million small business recovery effort nationwide to help entrepreneurs recover and rebuild from pandemic-related economic challenges. To date, Wells Fargo has distributed more than $84 million across 32 states, with the grants enabling entrepreneurs to maintain roughly 50,000 jobs, according to Wells Fargo.

“This partnership with Wells Fargo allows us to fill a lending gap that many traditional financial institutions are unable to fill,” said Harry Stone, president and chief executive officer of CBAC, in a prepared statement. “We are grateful to help support small businesses in these challenging times and help fledgling businesses to grow and thrive.”