JPMorgan Rolls Out Grant For Diverse SMBs

J.P. Morgan Chase has rolled out a new program to help Black, Hispanic and Latino-owned businesses get capital, a press release says.

Called the Diverse Supplier Grant Initiative, it will aim to correct the issue of small and minority-owned businesses finding it hard to meet the industry requirements like cybersecurity, insurance and bonding when bidding for new corporate business.

Satisfying the requirements can often be costly, running from $100,000 to $500,000 and making a barrier for those businesses.

J.P. Morgan has partnered with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a Community Development Financial Institution and certified 501(c)(3), to manage the program.

LISC will reportedly help with the end-to-end work and report on the capital assistance’s impact on the businesses that participate. The metrics will include new contracts, RFPs that the businesses qualify for and the number of jobs created and retained, along with revenue growth.

“Far too many otherwise-qualified diverse businesses are prevented from securing contract opportunities due to the high cost of compliance,” says Ted Archer, global head of business partner diversity at J.P. Morgan Chase. “We’re proud to join LISC, our top suppliers and other corporate partners to create an industry-wide solution that will remove common obstacles to doing business and contribute to building generational wealth in diverse communities across the country.”

PYMNTS wrote that Jamie Dimon, J.P. Morgan CEO, has been called out recently by investors for a lack of transparency on new project spending.

See also: Investors Call Out JPMorgan’s Dimon For Lack of Tech Spend Candor

The report notes that the bank is looking at increasing spending on new projects by 30%, almost $15 billion. Tech will get the biggest part of that.

Shareholders have let Dimon and his leadership team know that the bank’s aggressive spending plan, along with the company’s lack of info on where the money was going, wasn’t acceptable, unnamed sources said.

Investors also said they wanted an explanation for J.P. Morgan’s move into the retail banking sector.