Pioneering Fund aims to grow to $100 million for Former Military
Personnel
NEW
YORK, Nov. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of
America is seeding a second round of financing for Veteran Loan
Fund, doubling a two-year-old commitment that has already funded
more than 500 small businesses built by former military personnel
that have created or retained more than 3,000 jobs across 37
states. The fund's first $15 million
round, closed in 2022, was deployed in less than 12 months.
The Veteran Loan Fund is a national collaborative of a
growing number of Community Development Financial Institutions
(CDFIs) and specialized veteran service organizations providing
responsible capital and technical assistance to underserved veteran
entrepreneurs. The fund offers an online platform that connects
military veterans and their spouses with mission-focused lenders
and education partners to help them build and sustain small
businesses. Eligible veterans benefit from below market rate
funding and free business coaching.
"Many veterans have the drive, discipline and leadership skills
to fuel small business growth but lack the funding or network to
help them grow. We have seen the benefits of low-cost capital in
catalyzing entrepreneurship and are pleased to continue to support
this work," said Dan Letendre, head
of CDFI Lending at Bank of America.
"Access to responsible capital is a key issue for military
veteran entrepreneurs," says Grant
Bennett, Director of Veteran Programs and Operating Manager
of the Veteran Loan Fund. "Now is the time to scale our impact
within the veteran business community. We can only do this through
the work of our CDFI partners and support of organizations like
Bank of America."
The Veteran Loan Fund plans to grow to $100 million across the nation by 2027, an amount
equal to the estimated annual demand for capital from veteran
entrepreneurs who lack any funding for their businesses. Its first
$15 million round, fully deployed in
less than 12 months, was made possible by a $5 million commitment of long-term, below market
rate lending capital from Bank of America as lead investor in 2021,
along with support from other major institutions. In this round,
Bank of America will provide $10
million in support of the new $25
million fund.
Bank of America is the largest investor in CDFIs, with
$2 billion in financing to more than
260 CDFIs across all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
Veteran Loan Fund
Member CDFIs currently include:
Access to Capital For Entrepreneurs (GA), Appalachian Community
Capital (VA), Black Business Investment Fund (FL), Business Impact
Northwest (WA), Colorado Enterprise Fund (CO), Dream Spring (NM),
Economic and Community Development Institute (OH), Pathway Lending
(TN), Justine Petersen (MO),
PeopleFund (TX), Pursuit (NY), and Wisconsin Women's Business
Initiative Corporation (WI).
Specialized technical assistance partners include: Bunker Labs,
Vet Met, Vet to CEO, as well as local partnerships with Veteran
Business Outreach Centers, SCORE and SBDCs.
For more information, please visit
https://www.veteranloanfund.com.
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's
leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small
and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full
range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial
and risk management products and services. The company provides
unmatched convenience in the United
States, serving approximately 69 million consumer and small
business clients with approximately 3,900 retail financial centers,
approximately 15,000 ATMs (automated teller machines) and
award-winning digital banking with approximately 57 million
verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in
wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading
across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations,
governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of
America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million
small business households through a suite of innovative,
easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves
clients through operations across the
United States, its territories and more than 35 countries.
Bank of America Corporation stock is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE: BAC).
For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements
and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom
and register for news email alerts.
Reporters may contact:
Susan Atran, Bank of America
Phone: 1.646.599.3300
susan.atran@bofa.com
Jenny Palecek, PeopleFund
Phone: 1.512.222.1005
JPalecek@peoplefund.org
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bofa-doubles-support-for-veteran-loan-fund-to-aid-growth-of-veteran-led-small-businesses-301981655.html
SOURCE Bank of America Corporation