BBIF Among 10 CDFIs Launching “Shared Success” To Scale Small Business Job Quality

BBIF will support business owners to improve jobs while strengthening their businesses

ORLANDO, FL – BBIF announced its selection for Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities partnership in Shared Success: scaling financial intermediary strategies to advance job quality, equity, and small business prosperity. This innovative pilot program, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will focus on advancing job quality among small- and medium-sized businesses.From stagnant wages to limited access to benefits, low job quality affects millions of workers across the U.S., creating financial challenges for many. Nearly 60% of low-wage workers work at businesses with fewer than 100 employees, including the 35% of low-wage workers at micro-businesses with fewer than 10 employees. Improving job quality for low-wage workers requires a focus on small businesses.

CDFIs and financial intermediaries can help improve the lives of low-wage workers by centering job quality in their financing and advising. CDFI grantees will integrate job quality into their financing and advising services to support and incentivize small- and medium-sized businesses to improve job quality in areas including worker compensation, advancement, employee satisfaction, basic benefits, incentives, and wealth building.

BBIF is dedicated to providing business owners with the mentorship and training needed to have a successful business, which includes ensuring that their employees have high-quality positions . Through the initiatives of the organization’s skilled advisors, BBIF’s clients receive the individualized growth strategies they need to scale their businesses.

Joining the CDFI grantees, the Economic Opportunities Program, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in this collaborative effort are key partners U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation (USBCDC) and Pacific Community Ventures (PCV). USBCDC, the community development and tax credit subsidiary of U.S. Bank, will provide CDFI partners with an opportunity to apply for capital investments; PCV will leverage its existing expertise in good jobs business advising to support CDFIs in strengthening their practices.

“At BBIF we are continuously looking for ways to support small businesses for long term gains,” said Duane Lewis, COO, BBIF. “Having business owners think critically about job quality and how they can invest in their employees will make a difference in the business’s success. We are looking forward to this partnership with Aspen Institute and the impact the initiative will have for local communities.” DUANE LEWIS COO, BBIF

“This is a critical undertaking to meaningfully improve jobs in a way that benefits both workers and business owners. Most business owners recognize the value of their employees, but need information, incentives, and tools to improve job quality,” said Maureen Conway, vice president at the Aspen Institute and executive director of the Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program. “We are pleased to partner with these CDFIs who share our values and are well-positioned to help small businesses seize opportunities for job quality improvements in the short term and ultimately drive structural changes for a stronger and more resilient economy.”

By integrating job quality-related services into their existing operating and financial models and demonstrating the impact of CDFIs in improving job quality, these CDFI partners will help establish job quality as a key driver of economic mobility and long-term business success. In the long term, Shared Success aims to raise the floor for workers across the US small business ecosystem by demonstrating that small business owners can feasibly enhance job quality in ways that strengthen business resilience and worker wellbeing and by developing the capacities, products, and practices of financial institutions to facilitate job quality improvements. ###

About BBIF Created in 1987, BBIF provides loan capital, financial technical assistance, and business development services to support business owners. As a mission-driven lender, BBIF helps businesses grow by offering capital solutions and specialized guidance tailored to their needs. BBIF is a CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) and CDE (Community Development Enterprise) certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury CDFI Fund. The organization is also a Community Advantage and Micro Loan lender certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration, a Money Smart for Small Business collaborator with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and holds an AERIS rating of triple star, A.

Since its inception, BBIF has provided over 1,185 loans totaling $103.6 million and received over $200MM in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)  awards, for a leveraged impact of over $625 million in NMTC investments. These efforts have created/retained over 15,000 jobs, while maintaining a historical loan loss rate of 4.08%. Learn more at www.BBIF.com.