Photo: Black Business Boost
One-hundred businesses in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will soon get an independent stimulus thanks to the PNC Foundation’s $600,000 grant for the Black Business Boost program.
The program will provide “friends- and family-type capital” to individuals and businesses with a “concept to launch” approach to assistance no matter where they are in their business life cycle—from startup to scaling and long-term sustainability.
The initiative will be stewarded by Milwaukee-based CDFI Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC), one of Wisconsin’s first CDFIs. They have lent over $85 million in micro and small loans since 1987, primarily to women, people of color, lower-income individuals and veterans and military-connected families.
“We hope to fully serve 100 Black entrepreneurs and business owners over this period of time—most likely far more too,” says Wendy Baumann, WWBIC president and chief visionary officer.
The program is the second of its kind funded by the PNC Foundation. Read more.
