New branches, small business grants: A strategy for growing alongside communities

It’s a simple idea: When Wells Fargo opens a branch, the neighborhood should grow alongside it.

The $5 million Wells Fargo Neighborhood Growth Grants program will help businesses near new Wells Fargo branches in Chicago, New York City, and metro Nashville, Tennessee. The initiative is focused on making a visible impact neighborhood by neighborhood by supporting small businesses with storefronts or a retail presence within the neighborhoods surrounding select branches.

“Opening a new branch is about more than expanding our footprint. It is about investing in the future of the communities we serve,” said Kimelyn Harris, Wells Fargo’s head of Business Growth Philanthropy. “Entrepreneurs are at the heart of thriving communities. By supporting small business growth, we are helping create economic opportunity, build generational wealth, and strengthen the neighborhoods we serve.”

Local non-profit organizations with strong ties to neighborhoods administer the grants, averaging $25,000 per business. Business owners also receive access to ongoing support from business experts through technical assistance and training.

“The most efficient, smartest way to create wealth and jobs in our communities is to invest in the people who are already there,” said Brad McConnell, CEO of Chicago-based Allies for Community Business (A4CB), a community development financial institution (CDFI). “Those dollars stay in the neighborhoods when we invest this way. We create more and more economic activity, which in turn creates more and more wealth in the communities that need it.”

The program recently kicked off in Chicago’s Bronzeville community, where Wells Fargo awarded A4CB a $1.5 million investment to support local Bronzeville-area businesses with $25,000 grants and business advisory services. Here’s the story of one of the 16 businesses from the neighborhood that received a grant.

Trez Pugh III always had a vision for what could be in Bronzeville, even when others didn’t. That’s one reason he founded the first Sip & Savor, which has grown into a chain of Chicago coffee houses, at 43rd & Forestville, where it remains 21 years later.

Pugh, a Chicago native and former Marine, opened that first café, then the Bronzeville Coffee Shop, when the surrounding blocks were empty or vacant.

“I didn’t go into it to make money. I went into it to make a difference,” said Pugh, the café chain’s president and chairman.

The business has grown outside Bronzeville with multiple Chicago locations, but it’s never left the community behind. To remain competitive, he’s explored different revenue streams and strategies to keep locals coming back, from renting the shops out to hosting events like speed dating and karaoke. Above all, offering high-quality service remains his mission.

“It’s not just coffee. It’s about where community meets,” he said.

Pugh is working with his daughter, Tara Knopp, to get the most out of every dollar from his grant.

“Right away I thought, ‘This is great. We can pay down vendors, invest in marketing, and catch up on things that help move the business forward,’” he said. “Actions speak a whole lot louder than words. For Wells Fargo to come out and do that, that hit home.”

These days, Bronzeville feels different to Pugh. He doesn’t have to leave the area to get flowers or a good steak, he said. Instead, there’s a growing community of business owners following his lead.

“The growth is unbelievable. I’m not talking about just more residents or more businesses. I’m talking economically. Teachers are coming in; entrepreneurs are coming in,” he said.

“Neighborhood Growth Grants reflect our commitment to investing in the neighborhoods we serve, helping local businesses, entrepreneurs, and community organizations create opportunities and drive economic vitality,” said Daniel Hoke, Wells Fargo’s Business Growth Strategy Executive. “As we continue opening branches in communities like Bronzeville and expand the program to New York City and Nashville, we’re connecting our local presence with targeted investments that help strengthen neighborhoods and support long-term growth.”

Stay tuned for the stories behind more businesses that have received Neighborhood Growth Grants.