BOSTON, May 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Santander US
CEO Scott Powell today announced the
Bank's new initiative called Cultivate Small Business to
help foster small business ownership in Greater Boston's low- and moderate-income
neighborhoods. Cultivate Small Business is designed to help
early-stage entrepreneurs in low-and moderate-income neighborhoods
build and sustain their businesses, with a focus on women, minority
and immigrant-owned businesses in food-related industries.
The program will provide industry-specific education, networks and
mentoring as well as small capital grants for business owners.
Santander's three strategic partners in this initiative are
CommonWealth Kitchen, Babson College
and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC).
"We created this program to give budding entrepreneurs in
underserved neighborhoods access to an educational program and a
network of established business owners who can mentor them and
share their knowledge on how to successfully grow a business," said
Scott Powell, CEO, Santander US. "At
Santander, we know how important it is to support our local
communities and this collaboration with our like-minded partners
will make a meaningful difference in helping small businesses grow
and underserved neighborhoods flourish."
Santander's Cultivate Small Business initiative will
start in October 2017 and run through
June 2018. The pilot program will be
open to approximately 30 of Greater
Boston's food-related business entrepreneurs in the early
stages of developing their companies.
"Targeting early-stage entrepreneurs is a sound strategy, since
the strongest growth in small business is happening at the
entrepreneurial level – in companies with fewer than five
employees," said Nam Pham, Assistant
Secretary, Massachusetts Office of Business Development &
International Trade. "Focusing attention on food service opens the
door to many women, minority and immigrants who traditionally start
family-run restaurants, bakeries, catering services and food
markets."
Santander's collaborative partnerships in the public, private
and non-profit sectors will ensure the delivery of an integrated
program that gives participating entrepreneurs the building blocks
and know-how they need to be successful business owners and reach
new levels of sustainability and growth. Cultivate Small
Business will include four key components:
- Networking – The program will be coordinated by the
Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, a non-profit
organization dedicated to helping small inner city businesses
thrive. ICIC will bring its impressive network of inner city
business owners, research resources and policy expertise to
designing and implementing the pilot of this initiative.
- Education – Santander's partnership with Babson College will develop a customized
business education curriculum that will combine in-person business
classes at the College's downtown Boston campus with online sessions that
participants can access remotely. In-person sessions will
emphasize peer and participatory learning.
- Mentoring – Through collaboration with CommonWealth
Kitchen, an innovative community-based food business
accelerator that provides shared kitchen space along with a
continuum of business and technical assistance services, program
participants will have access to industry-specific advice and
support. Participants will be a part of the CommonWealth
Kitchen community where they can learn practical business lessons
from early-stage and established businesses ranging from food
trucks, caterers and restaurant owners to wholesale packaged goods
businesses. CommonWealth Kitchen will also provide customized
technical assistance for each participant. In addition to
food business mentors, Santander
Bank volunteers will assist participants in strengthening
the financial and operational aspects of their businesses.
- Capital Grants – As part of the Bank's philanthropic
initiative, all participants will be able to apply for small grants
administered by CommonWealth Kitchen. These funds will be available
for a wide range of purposes to help participants further their
business goals and will be granted in stages as participants
complete key phases of the program.
The online application process for Cultivate Small
Business will open in June, but can be accessed initially by
sending an email to entrepreneurs@santander.us. Applicants must
reside in or represent a food-related business in a low- to
moderate-income neighborhood in Greater
Boston. The business must have earned between $25,000 and $1 million in revenue in the most
recent full calendar year and have been in operation for at least
one year as of June 1, 2017, or
otherwise demonstrates readiness to participate. Businesses should
also have between one and 10 full-time equivalent employees.
Applicants will be notified in September if they have been selected
for the program.
Powell announced Cultivate Small Business at a breakfast
this morning at the Roxbury Innovation Center and was joined by
officials representing the City and State, including Pham. The
event also featured a panel of stakeholders who shared their
insights on the role small businesses play in communities and how
food-related businesses offer unique opportunities for low-income
and minority entrepreneurs. Moderated by Kara Miller, host of WGBH's Innovation Hub, the
panel included Gwen Robinson,
Santander's Managing Director of Corporate Social Responsibility;
Jen Faigel, Executive Director and
Co-Founder of CommonWealth Kitchen; and food industry business
owners Teresa Maynard of Sweet Teez
Bakery, Sherie Grillon of Nola's
Fresh Foods, and Jared Auerbach of
Red's Best.
As part of Santander's commitment to small businesses, the Bank
has turned the U.S. Small Business Administration's 'National Small
Business Week' into a month-long celebration, which includes a
series of activities in May dedicated to supporting small business
owners. The Bank made a $25,000
donation earlier this month during 'National Small Business Week'
to Entrepreneurship for All, a Lowell,
MA-based non-profit organization that mentors entrepreneurs
and fosters small business growth in underserved mid-size cities in
Massachusetts. Also this
month, team members from Santander's Business Banking group are
donating their time by providing financial education classes and
mentoring to small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Santander Bank, N.A. is one of the country's
largest retail and commercial banks with more than $83 billion in assets. With its corporate offices
in Boston, the Bank's 9,500
employees, 675 branches, 2,100 ATMs and 2.1 million customers are
principally located in Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania and
Delaware. The Bank is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN)
- one of the most respected banking groups in the world with more
than 125 million customers in the U.S., Europe, and Latin
America. It is managed by Santander Holdings USA, Inc., Banco Santander's intermediate
holding company in the U.S. For more information on Santander Bank, please visit
www.santanderbank.com.
Media Contacts:
Ann
Davis
617-757-5891
ann.davis@santander.us
Nancy Orlando
617-757-5765
nancy.orlando@santander.us
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SOURCE Santander Bank, N.A.