Ft. Wayne MarketLocal News

JPMorgan Chase partners with City of Fort Wayne for Summit City Match Program

Photo Supplied - City of Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO) – JPMorgan Chase and the City of Fort Wayne’s Community Development Division are partnering up to continue the Summit City Match Program which promotes entrepreneurship and helps revitalize Fort Wayne’s commercial corridors.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is giving $250,000 over the next two years to help support the effort, which will be matched by the City’s Community Development Division.  The Summit City Match Program is operated by the City’s Summit City Entrepreneurship & Enterprise District.

The Summit City Match program is designed to match emerging entrepreneurs with building spaces, start-up technical assistance, and gap grant opportunities.   The goals of the program are to encourage the start of more small businesses, lease empty retail and commercial space, and to revitalize commercial corridors in urban areas.  A special emphasis will be put on recruiting women and people of color into the program.

The program launched in April of 2019 and has been focusing on connecting businesses with vacant spaces on South Calhoun Street.  This additional funding will allow continued support on South Calhoun Street and also a commercial corridor on the southeast side of the city.

“I appreciate JPMorgan Chase’s support of entrepreneurship in Fort Wayne,” said Mayor Tom Henry. “Supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses is critical to the long-term economic success of our community and I am excited for the opportunities this partnership will offer.”

“Small business growth is critical to creating economic opportunity for more people in Fort Wayne,” said Jim Cook, JPMorgan Chase Market Executive for Fort Wayne.  “Summit City Match helps address two obstacles that entrepreneurs typically face – finding the right space and bridging financial gaps. This program’s goal is to help start new, permanent businesses in Fort Wayne’s commercial corridors, and we are pleased to support this effort.”

Director of the Summit City Entrepreneurship & Enterprise District, Trois Hart said “The Summit City Match has created a lot of buzz with South Calhoun Street building owners. They are giving tours to businesses referred to them by the program and three grant requests are pending to help those projects happen.”

Summit City Match is supported by Greater Fort Wayne Inc., the Greater Fort Wayne Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Fort Wayne Black Chamber, Latinos Count, Fort Wayne Community Schools Anthis Career Center, UAW 166, Allen County, and Brightpoint.

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