U.S. Bank awards $50,000 grant to The Business Council, Inc. U.S. Bank awards $50,000 grant to The Business Council, Inc.

U.S. Bank has expedited its annual $1 million Market Impact Fund grant program to provide funding for 30 local nonprofits that are working to respond to the most pressing needs in their communities. The fund includes $50,000 to The Business Council, Inc. in Milwaukee to provide individual grants to small businesses who are members of the Ethnic and Diverse Business Coalition (EDBC).
 
The EDBC includes 13 of the multicultural and diverse chambers in Wisconsin including Hmong, African-American, LGBT, Veterans and Latino Chambers. The Business Council, Inc. will operate the fund and works in collaboration with the EDBC.
 
“The support from U.S. Bank’s Market Impact Fund is a huge win for ethnic and diverse businesses in the State of Wisconsin,” Marjorie Rucker, Chair of the Ethnic and Diverse Business Coalition and Executive Director of The Business Council, Inc. “Formulating partnerships to provide support to small ethnic and diverse businesses during this time shows the true leadership of our banking partners like U.S. Bank.”

The grants are being used by nonprofits to infuse cash into small businesses in low-income neighborhoods, staff domestic abuse support services, support food banks and more. The company is deploying these funds three months earlier than originally scheduled to ensure immediate relief.
 
The move is part of a broader shift in how U.S. Bank is approaching community giving this year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, the company donated $4 million to three national nonprofits – United Way, LISC and Operation HOPE – and announced that its remaining $25 million in grants planned for this year could be used by nonprofits for general operating expenses rather than for specific programming.


The Market Impact Fund grant recipients are:
 

• Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (Phoenix, AZ) – funding small businesses and microbusinesses
• Goodwill of Orange County (Santa Ana, CA) – funding supply chain vehicles to support local food banks
• Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment (Los Angeles, CA) – small business loans
• Sierra Health Foundation Center for Health Programs (Sacramento, CA) – funding small business loans in partnership with the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber
• Silicon Valley Community Foundation (Mountain View, CA) – supporting microbusinesses and nonprofit organizations
• The San Diego Foundation (San Diego, CA) – supporting critical resources and support for local communities
• National Jewish Health (Denver, CO) – funding access to healthcare for uninsured, low-income individuals
• Pikes Peak Community Foundation (Colorado Springs, CO) – funding basic human services
• Salvation Army (Edwards, CO) – funding emergency rent assistance programs
• Community Foundation of Johnson County (Coralville, IA) – supporting nonprofits, schools and government programs
• Idaho Community Foundation (Boise, ID) – support housing and nutrition for economically vulnerable populations
• Women’s Business Development Center (Chicago, IL) – supporting diverse small business owners
• Catholic Charities (Minneapolis, MN) – supporting individuals with employment services
• Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (Owatonna, MN) – emergency funding for licensed childcare providers
• LISC (Kansas City, MO) – supporting area nonprofits in maintaining their operations
• STL VenturesWorks (St. Louis, MO) – funding small business loans
• Montana Community Development Corporation (Missoula, MT) – supporting financial assistance for small businesses across Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Eastern Oregon and Washington
• United Way of the Central Carolinas (Charlotte, NC) – supporting local organizations with human services needs
• Omaha Community Foundation (Omaha, NE) – funding area nonprofits with response efforts
• Nevada Community Foundation (Las Vegas, NV) – supporting emergency response efforts
• United Way of Northern Nevada and Sierra (Reno, NV) – funding emergency food and shelter programs
• Cleveland Foundation (Cleveland, OH) – supporting the rapid response fund
• Economic and Community Development Institute (Columbus, OH) – small business support
• Strategies to End Homelessness (Cincinnati, OH) – supporting family shelters and relief programs
• Oregon Community Foundation (Portland, OR) – supporting small businesses across the entire state
• YMCA of Middle Tennessee (Nashville, TN) – funding for childcare for the families of health care workers
• The Road Home (Salt Lake City, UT) – supporting emergency shelter and services
• FareStart (Seattle, WA) – scaling up workforce program to provide 15,000+ emergency meals each day for homeless shelters and low-income seniors
• YWCA (Spokane, WA) – supporting the Women’s Opportunity Center
• The Business Council, Inc. (Milwaukee, WI) – grants to small businesses who are members of the Multicultural and Diverse Business Coalition

 
In addition to philanthropic support, U.S. Bank has responded to the COVID-19 by instituting a premium pay program for front-line employees, modifying personal and small business products for customers, among other changes. Additional information about its actions is available at usbank.com/covid-19 and usbank.com/newsroom.
 
About U.S. Bank
 
U.S. Bancorp, with more than 70,000 employees and $543 billion in assets as of March 31, 2020, is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States. The Minneapolis-based bank blends its relationship teams, branches and ATM network with mobile and online tools that allow customers to bank how, when and where they prefer. U.S. Bank is committed to serving its millions of retail, business, wealth management, payment, commercial and corporate, and investment services customers across the country and around the world as a trusted financial partner, a commitment recognized by the Ethisphere Institute naming the bank one of the 2020 World’s Most Ethical Companies. Visit U.S. Bank at www.usbank.com or follow on social media to stay up to date with company news.