An $850,000 investment from JPMorgan Chase in Ascend Long Island is expected to further strengthen entrepreneurs in underserved communities in the ways they need it most: Access to low-interest loans, guidance and a pipeline of outsourcing opportunities.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon broke the news about the funding in person Monday at a Chase branch in Huntington. Fostering inclusive economic growth is a top priority for the investment banking company, as demonstrated by its engagement through Ascend, a national network that includes 14 cities plus Long Island. Launched in 2018, Ascend Long Island is administered through Hofstra University and BOC Capital, which provides financing to small business owners with a focus on underserved communities.
“It’s been 175 years since the Civil War and the black community is nowhere near equality,” Dimon said Monday.
For many, the network of large company supply chains and mentors, along with funding, is out of reach, said Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.
“America’s first suburb is unfortunately to my way of thinking America’s most segregated suburb, and it continues to have toxic implications,” Levy said.
Larry Levy, Hofstra University; Michael Dowling, Northwell Health; Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase; Steve Bellone, Suffolk County; Nancy Carin, BOC Capital; Jeanique Druses, JPMorgan Chase. Photo by Judy Walker
But Ascend Long Island, with its resources, offers “a way to create wealth in bulk rather than developing the workforce one employee at a time,” Levy said.
Dimon’s personal announcement showed his commitment and belief in the program, Levy said.
“It’s one thing to write a big check and provide a lot of people who are committed to helping,” Levy said. “But for someone like Jamie Dimon, a global leader who has to be all over the world to show up here … it’s really special.”
JPMorgan Chase leaders had been looking for “solutions to closing the racial wealth gap,” said Sekou Kaalund, JPMorgan’s head of consumer banking for the Northeast. “One of those solutions is entrepreneurship and supporting diverse businesses, especially black and Latino businesses.”
And in Nassau and Suffolk counties, “when all of our businesses succeed, especially those that haven’t had access to economic opportunity, all of Long Island succeeds,” Kaalund said.
The funding announced this week pays for the program, instruction and space to hold the classes, Levy said. It also pays for people to recruit community members and connect companies with program members.
“If you’re lucky and talented enough to get a contract with the biggest company, you have to have the capital to be able to pay people to work on it before you pay yourself,” Levy said. “You have to buy inventory and that requires the ability to have a business loan. For someone who doesn’t have a history at this level, or doesn’t have an income yet, it’s really difficult.”
This is where BOC Capital comes in. “Their standards for giving are strict, but not as strict as others to get them started,” Levy said. And since the program began, JPMorgan Chase said it has invested more than $2 million. It enabled 55 entrepreneurs to secure contracts worth about $4 million, according to published reports.
Michael Dowling
The idea is to “provide support, training and contracts” to these communities, giving them “as much access to contracts as possible,” said Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, a partner in the program.
“A lot of people have really good ideas, but they don’t know where to go and they don’t have the background” to take it forward, Dowling said. “We provide that kind of curriculum for them.”
Northwell is “heavily involved” with Ascend Long Island, Dowling said. The health care system is “increasing the proportion of contracts” for minority and women-owned businesses.
For example, in redeveloping Northwell’s South Shore University Hospital, the health care system is working with Ascend Long Island to connect with qualified entrepreneurs in Bay Shore, Brentwood and Central Islip, Levy said.
Ascend Long Island is also working with National Grid on a weatherization program in which the company needed construction expertise.
Nelson Roma, of National Grid’s supplier sustainability and diversity team, said the program leverages the organization’s existing “procurement processes and practices” enabling it to engage with general contractors, primes and subcontractors on land contracts.
“Diversity, equity and inclusion are the Long Island Association’s top priorities — if we do, it supports our overall economic growth as a region,” said Vice President of Government Affairs and Communications Stacey Sikes.
Dimon was in Long Island as part of a bus tour of the Northeast. In a private interview, he said that now “many businesses are doing better.” However, he said that businesses should “always be prepared for hostile events. You want to face them.”
Monday’s announcement drew regional leaders including Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. The PSEG Foundation and the Long Island Community Foundation are also supporters.
Meanwhile, Ascend Long Island spreads the word about the program through advertising and works with such chambers of commerce as the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce and the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Phil Andrews
Phil Andrews, LIAACC president, said owners need that level of expert support.
“The challenge for small business owners is finding the capital to grow their businesses to be able to handle large-scale projects,” Andrews said. “Small business opportunities are often needed for a business to provide an initial path to growth.”
Andrews emphasized that “many small business owners need support and training beyond what many programs provide, but studies show that small business owners with deep networks and connections have a greater chance of success.
“For these businesses, long-term mentors should be sought wherever possible,” he said.
Recently, he said, LIAACC “started a Small Business Solution Center to begin analyzing the problems of small business owners. Solving the problems of small business owners requires a deep dive to uncover their problems and then provide viable solutions. A business should seek multiple avenues of support, as each source brings its own unique value to small business owners.”
One of Ascend Long Island’s strengths, Levy said, is that it is a community-facing program.
“We don’t just decide on a high level with JPMorgan Chase what [members] they should know and when they should know,” he said. “We find out first ‘what do you need’ and ‘what do you think you need help with?’ And if we’re in line, we deliver it. If we’re not, we try to figure out who can deliver it.” And if the two are out of line, the organization will say so, but point to other resources that may be able to help.
It’s all part of building a path, leaders said Monday, to sustainable prosperity.
AGENN@LIBN.COM
