JPMorgan Chase Awards $1 Million to Small Business and Workforce Programs in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS, March 22, 2016 /3BL Media/ - JPMorgan Chase & Co. today announced $1 million in new philanthropic support to spur the growth of small businesses and help more New Orleanians find better jobs through improved workforce training.

The firm will be supporting nonprofits that have a history of effective programming in these areas that are critical to promoting more inclusive economic opportunity, including Broad Community Connections, the OC Haley Business and Merchants Association, the Good Work Network, the Data Center and GNO Inc.

“This $1 million investment in local small businesses and workforce training aligns perfectly with our commitment to create greater economic opportunity for all,” said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. “JPMorgan Chase’s focus on economic inclusion is an example of the powerful impact public-private partnership can have on New Orleans.”

The grants will fund four innovative programs designed to help more New Orleans residents participate in the economic recovery underway here:

• Broad Community Connections and Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard Merchants & Business Association, $300,000. The Crescent City Commercial Corridor Revitalization project will provide support to small businesses located in these historic corridors.
• The Data Center, $250,000. JPMorgan Chase will support research that helps identify workforce skills gaps and small business opportunities in the Southeast Louisiana Superregion. This information will help workforce and small business training providers better focus their training and connect participants to high-quality employment opportunities.   
• GNO, Inc., $150,000. JPMorgan Chase is helping to expand GNOWorks, a demand-driven workforce initiative that convenes employers and workforce partners to coordinate action and investment. The expansion will focus on digital media, advanced manufacturing and the energy and water sectors.
• Good Work Network (GWN), $300,000. GWN works with the City of New Orleans and the New Orleans Business Alliance in a cluster-based approach to economic development. JPMorgan Chase support will enable GWN to support small minority and women-owned businesses, preparing them for emerging opportunities, including the New Orleans airport expansion project, the World Trade Center project, the upgrade of the city's sewerage and water system, and coastal restoration projects.

“Small and emerging companies are where innovation happens. Right here in New Orleans, entrepreneurs are tackling some of the world’s biggest problems and creating new jobs,” said Lizette Terral, Head of Commercial Banking for Chase in New Orleans. “We want all of our neighbors to have the skills necessary to take advantage of these new opportunities. We’re investing in training programs to create economic opportunity across the city and transform lives.”

More than 90 percent of all businesses in New Orleans have twenty-five or fewer employees, making small businesses the backbone of our economy. But these small businesses need help to participate fully in many of the emerging opportunities created by the city’s renaissance. Chase serves more than four million American small businesses and 78,000 small businesses across Louisiana. Chase has also been the state’s top SBA lender in Louisiana for each of the past three years.

In addition to supporting small businesses, JPMorgan Chase has focused its philanthropic efforts on the state’s workforce needs. In 2014, the bank committed $1 million to the Foundation for Louisiana's Community & Technical Colleges (LCTCS) to fund statewide workforce training. The grant was the first to tap into the state’s $40 million Workforce and Innovation for a Strong Economy Fund, which included a 4-to-1 matching formula. As a result of the new match, LCTCS was able to leverage a JPMorgan Chase grant into a $5 million combined contribution. The investment is part of the bank’s unprecedented five-year $250 million New Skills at Work initiative to strengthen workforce systems around the world.

Please join JPMorgan Chase for a panel discussion about innovative new ways to leverage industry and small business development for more inclusive growth. The Data Center also will present research findings at the event to be held at the Ashe Power House, 1731 Baronne St., at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 22. A reception catered by Café Reconcile will follow.

"Chase's investment will not only enable us to develop more effective strategies for connecting Broad Street business owners to new opportunities, it will also be a platform for creating programs and policies to support the continued renaissance of urban commercial corridors throughout New Orleans.  We could not be more excited to engage in this work with JPMorgan Chase Foundation as a partner," said Jeffrey Schwartz, Executive Director, Broad Community Connections.

"This funding will enable The Data Center to disseminate information that advances prosperity in Southeast Louisiana, particularly in the arenas of workforce development, economic development, and the emerging water management economy," said Data Center Executive Director and Chief Demographer, Allison Plyer.

"We are grateful for the opportunity from Chase to be able to develop and advocate for strategies to link small businesses with commercial revitalization in our urban corridors," said Linda Pompa, Executive Director of the Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard Merchants & Business Association.

“GNO, Inc. has worked to drive successful development and dissemination of labor market data, which continually helps us build upon our exceptional network of industry leaders and CEOs.  This funding uniquely positions us to continue connecting high-quality, supply-side workforce programs and engaged employers with current and projected middle skill hiring needs, influencing their programs and outreach to best impact our community and fill our region's growing demand for skilled labor. We are grateful for JPMorgan Chase's support,” said Michael Hecht, President and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has more than 1 million customers in Louisiana. Since Hurricane Katrina, Chase has donated more than $36 million to non-profits working in Louisiana. For more information about JPMC’s commitment to New Orleans, visit here.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.4 trillion and operations worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. The firm uses its global resources, expertise, insights and scale to address some of the most urgent challenges facing communities around the world including the need for increased economic opportunity. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.

Broad Community Connections' mission is to revitalize Broad Street from Tulane Avenue to Bayou Road as a vibrant commercial district, bringing together the surrounding neighborhoods and promoting their economic, residential, and cultural development.  BCC is a community development organization that undertakes catalytic real estate development projects, supports small business development, promotes equitable and vibrant neighborhoods, and enhances the built environment.

The Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard Merchants & Business Association has been facilitating renewal along Central City's main street for the last 20 years. OCHBMBA is a designated Louisiana Main Street and Cultural District organization that works with businesses, non-profits, neighborhood residents, cultural entities and other stakeholders to improve the economic conditions in the neighborhood and promote its cultural assets.

The Data Center is a trusted resource for data about Southeast Louisiana. Founded in 1997, we are fully independent and we are experts at bringing data together from multiple sources. In doing so, they are uniquely able to step beyond the limits of analyzing data from just one perspective and take a 360–degree look at issues that matter most to our region. In these ways, The Data Center realizes its mission to build prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable communities by making informed decisions possible.

Greater New Orleans, Inc. is the regional economic development organization for Southeast Louisiana.  The GNO, Inc. mission is to create jobs and wealth in the Greater New Orleans community.  The GNO, Inc. vision is for the Greater New Orleans region to fulfill its potential as one of the best places in the country to grow a company, and raise a family. More information can be found at www.gnoinc.org.

Good Work Network provides business development services to minority- and women-owned businesses throughout a 15-parish region in Southeast Louisiana.