Wells Fargo Provides $11.2 Million to Support Diverse-Owned Small Businesses

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Wells Fargo & Company WFC today announced that it is providing $11.2 million to help 12 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) better serve diverse-owned small businesses. The CDFIs were selected for round two of the six-round Wells Fargo Works for Small Business^®: Diverse Community Capital (DCC) program. The three-year DCC program will provide a total of $75 million in lending and grant capital to CDFIs that support diverse-owned small businesses. These CDFIs are private, nonprofit financial institutions that assist underserved populations. Since the program launched in November of 2015, more than $38 million has been distributed to 30 CDFIs.

The 12 organizations selected for round two were chosen from among 98 applicants. Wells Fargo will distribute a total of $8.17 million in lending capital and $3.075 million in grants to the selected CDFIs. They will use the DCC loan funds to lend to small business owners who may not qualify for traditional financing, while using the grant funds to expand outreach to diverse small business owners, upgrade technology, enhance products and increase technical assistance and coaching to borrowers.

The round two DCC recipients are:

• Accion serving Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas – Albuquerque, NM
• California FarmLink – Santa Cruz, CA
• Community First Fund – Lancaster, PA
• Four Bands Community Fund – Eagle Butte, SD
• Fresno CDFI – Fresno, CA
• Justine PETERSEN – St. Louis, MO
• Northwest Native Development Fund – Nespelem, WA
• PIDC Regional Development Corporation – Philadelphia, PA
• Self-Help Ventures Fund – Durham, NC
• Tampa Bay Black Business Investment Fund – Tampa, FL
• VEDC – Van Nuys, CA
• WomenVenture – Minneapolis, MN

"CDFIs play an important role in helping small business owners access resources that can be critical to success," said Mike Rizer, Wells Fargo's head of Community Relations. "Wells Fargo recognizes the vital role that CDFIs play and we are excited to continue the Diverse Community Capital program and to know that more small businesses will start and grow as a result."

The DCC program seeks to address challenges diverse small business owners face when starting or growing their business. The program is a collaboration between Wells Fargo and Opportunity Finance Network, a national network of CDFIs. Opportunity Finance Network offers a social capital component of the DCC program, which focuses on helping CDFIs grow stronger through activities including in-person networking, mentorship, consulting and peer learning.

Interest forms now being accepted for DCC third round

Wells Fargo is accepting interest forms for round three of the DCC program through December 1^st. CDFIs can visit www.wellsfargo.com/cdfi to learn more about the program's guidelines and to access the online interest form.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company WFC is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,600 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 269,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 27 on Fortune's 2016 rankings of America's largest corporations. Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.

Wells Fargo serves approximately three million small business owners across the United States and loans more money to America's small businesses than any other bank (2002-2015 CRA government data). To help more small businesses achieve financial success, in 2014 Wells Fargo introduced Wells Fargo Works for Small Business^® – a broad initiative to deliver resources, guidance and services for business owners.

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