[Video overview: Saul Van Beurden, CEO, Consumer, Small & Business Banking, Wells Fargo; Kimelyn Harris, Head of Small Business Growth Philanthropy, Wells Fargo; Brad McConnell, CEO, Allies for Community Business; Lashon Burrell, Founder and Executive Chef, Cajun Café Chicago; and Yuta Katsuyama, Co-founder and CEO, Kororin US Inc., discuss how Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Growth grants are helping nonprofits fill a critical capital gap, helping local businesses grow.]

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[cheering]

[Saul Van Beurden, CEO, Consumer, Small & Business Banking, Wells Fargo]

There’s no bigger honor than announcing that we are opening a new Open for Business Growth fund. It is for all growth-ready small business companies that are too big for a microloan and too small for traditional financing.

[Kimelyn Harris, Head of Small Business Growth Philanthropy, Wells Fargo]

It’s really going to help close that gap. And so I’m really excited that we have one of our partners here with us today, Allies for Community Business. They’re going to receive a $2.5 million grant.

[Brad McConnell, CEO, Allies for Community Business]

And so, what we’re going to be doing with the dollars that Wells Fargo is provided to us, we’re providing really flexible capital for entrepreneurs who have a path to growth, but need the financing to get there.

[Lashon Burrell, Founder and Executive Chef, Cajun Café Chicago]

Something that has been challenging, though, honestly, is the capital, which is why I got the revenue-based loan from Allies, with Wells Fargo. That was something that I needed in order to have cash flow. So, when I take on larger events, I’m able to have the money to float those things.

[McConnell]

Allies for Community Business is working with those entrepreneurs to provide revenue-based financing, which means that the payment fluctuates with the revenues.

And therefore, you have a great month. Wonderful. You pay more back on your debt because you have the cash to do it. If you have a less profitable month, a less successful sales month, that’s okay. You end up paying us less that month.

[Harris]

A lot of the businesses that are in the middle, our businesses like construction owners, retail space, restaurants, and a lot of times they need flexible capital because there’s a lot of upfront cost.

[Yuta Katsuyama, Co-founder and CEO, Kororin US Inc.]

Revenue-based funding through their support, that helped us to move into this new space. We also get advice from their team on how to finance the business. They gave us the opportunity to pitch our business to a potential investors.

[Burrell]

Allies has been really, really helpful in regards to making sure that the numbers make sense. We sit down and we have conversations about, ‘Is this contract going to make sense for you? Is it going to be profitable?’

[McConnell]

This is for growth. And so, the entrepreneurs who’ve made it through, they’re now in a position where the rates accelerate their growth, create more jobs, more wealth in their communities. The financing we’ve now received from Wells Fargo, is going to help Allies for Community Business to invest in those entrepreneurs.

[Burrell]

My why is just being able to make people happy, you know, being able to know that I started this from scratch, and I’m living my dream every day.

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