Capital One, Santander Act On Small Business Week

Top FIs are rolling out their Small Business Week contributions.

Capital One and Santander are two banks that both announced Wednesday (May 3) their perspective efforts to support small businesses as Small Business Week continues.

Capital One Spark Business said it is rolling out a We Work As One campaign to support and celebrate SMEs. The initiative offers a program for small business owners in several markets to partner with Capital One Cafes, so they can educate cafe customers on industry trends. It’s a way to engage directly with consumers, Capital One said.

“Small businesses create 70 percent of the new jobs nationally and drive tremendous growth in our local economies as well,” said Capital One Head of Small Business Banking Celia Edwards Karam in a statement. “So when small businesses flourish, everyone wins. We Work As One is a new way Capital One is recognizing what small businesses add to our communities and our economies and partnering with local businesses to help them succeed and grow.”

The program will include several events including Small Talk Thursdays, a way for small business and leading business owners to collaborate, as well as Pop-Up Experience, in which Capital One will select various small businesses each month so they can launch a pop-up shop in the cafe.

Also on Wednesday, Santander announced that it will provide $25,000 to Entrepreneurship For All (EforAll), a nonprofit organization that supports entrepreneurs and the growth of small businesses across mid-sized cities, an underserved market, the bank and EforAll said.

“At Santander, we’re turning the U.S. Small Business Administration’s ‘National Small Business Week’ into a month-long celebration,” said the bank’s Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Business Banking Amir Madjlessi in a statement. “EforAll shares our belief that small businesses make considerable positive impact on their local economies, and companies like Santander need to pay it forward by rallying around aspiring entrepreneurs. Giving to this exceptional organization is Santander’s way of recognizing the importance of supporting small business owners and the contributions they make to their communities.”

The donation will be used to fuel EforAll’s four Pitch Contests, to be held next year, that will see local startups pitch their business ideas to have a chance at winning money and gaining guidance to launch operations.