JPMorgan Chase Announces $125,000 for Water Entrepreneurs At Event with U.S. SBA Administrator

10 November 2015

U.S. SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet visits the Propeller Incubator.

Jim Schoen presents Propeller with $125,000 on behalf of JPMorgan Chase & Co. to fund Propeller's water entrepreneurs.

"We found New Orleans has three of the nation's top accelerators," said U.S. SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet.

The U.S. SBA awards Propeller $50,000 through its Annual Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. Propeller was one of 80 accelerators to receive funding nationwide.

The afternoon closed with a Be Fearless workshop led by Sarah Koch of the Case Foundation.

NEW ORLEANS, (November 10, 2015) – JPMorgan Chase & Co. joined SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet on her visit to the Propeller Incubator today to announce the bank’s $125,000 grant to fund Propeller’s work towards creating a thriving water industry within the New Orleans region through its Accelerator programs.

The commitment is part of Chase’s nationwide Small Business Forward initiative, a five-year, $30 million program to boost small businesses by creating and preserving jobs in low-income communities and for vulnerable populations.

“This investment in Propeller will have a meaningful impact on our region’s environment and will strengthen our local economy,” said John Kallenborn, head of Chase Commercial Banking in Louisiana. “Our Chase grant will help connect local entrepreneurs with critical resources so they can grow and create jobs. We’re incredibly proud of these innovative businesses and their exciting potential to create a healthier and more prosperous future.”
Many small business owners across the country face challenges including a lack of access to networks and markets, a lack of access to capital, and a lack of the kind of management skills that help them grow their businesses. Small Business Forward seeks to provide entrepreneurs with these crucial resources in order to help them sustainably grow their companies and generate inclusive economic growth in their communities.

One year ago, Chase announced four local grants totaling $500,000 to fund the growth of the health sciences and biomedical industries that are vital to New Orleans’ economic future.

The announcement of JPMorgan Chase’s latest commitment comes on the heels of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s $50,000 award to Propeller’s Accelerator programs. Propeller’s Accelerator was one of 80 national awards to business accelerators across the country, and one of 3 in New Orleans through the SBA’s second annual Growth Accelerator Fund Competition.

“SBA supports organizations like Propeller that help start-ups grow, become commercially viable, and have a real and sustained economic impact on their community,” said SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet. “Through our Growth Accelerator competition, we are able to reach entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country and make our resources available to the 21st century entrepreneurs and innovators who are disrupting business models across our economy.”

About Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation
Propeller drives social, environmental, and economic impact in New Orleans by incubating ventures that have the potential to solve our city’s most pressing issues. Our vision is to build a critical mass of entrepreneurs tackling key challenges in our issue areas of food security, water management, healthcare, and educational equity in order to make significant change for underserved individuals. GoPropeller.org

About JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase has 3,200 employees in Louisiana, making it one of the largest non-governmental employers in the state. Chase has 155 branches and more than 1 million consumer customers statewide. For each of the past three years, Chase has approved the most SBA loans in Louisiana. Since Hurricane Katrina, JPMorgan Chase has donated more than $34 million to non-profits working in Louisiana. JPMorganChase.com

About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. We recognize that small business is critical to our economic recovery and strength, to building America's future, and to helping the United States compete in today's global marketplace. Although SBA has grown and evolved in the years since it was established in 1953, the bottom line mission remains the same. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Islands and Guam. www.sba.gov

JPMorgan Chase Announces $125,000 for Water Entrepreneurs At Event with U.S. SBA Administrator

Propeller hosts JPMorgan Chase & Co. and U.S. SBA Administrator to announce their commitment to New Orleans accelerators for New Orleans entrepreneurs and talk next steps for industry collaboration.