JPMorganChase today announced the American Dream Initiative (ADI)—a multi-year effort to help expand opportunity to millions of Americans and future generations through targeted investments in local communities across the United States.
The firm plans to deploy $80 billion in credit for the ADI, and said it aims to add 3 million more small business clients in the next decade.
“The American Dream is alive, but it’s slipping out of reach for too many people—and for future generations,” said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorganChase. “This slows economic growth, hurts communities and prevents many people from getting ahead.
“By reigniting the American Dream through smart local investments and policies that we know work, we can work together to make the economy benefit more people—helping them buy homes, get good jobs and build better lives.”
The firm said ADI will start with launching a firmwide effort to support 10 million small businesses—up from 7 million currently served —over the next several years.
JPMorganChase said it intends to scale its support for small businesses to reach 10 million by providing further access to capital alongside coaching, advice, training or tools that help entrepreneurs overcome obstacles and pursue growth, including:
- Increasing access to capital at every stage of growth: Deploying increased capital directly to customers and through partners, including Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and mission-driven lenders, and supporting federal programs such as Small Business Administration (SBA) Microloan, Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) and State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). As part of the American Dream Initiative, JPMorganChase intends to provide nearly $80 billion in lending to small businesses over the next 10 years, including direct lending to customers as well as through community and mission-driven lending partners, helping more entrepreneurs access the funding they need to start, grow and scale their businesses.
- Providing advice and resources to help businesses manage and grow: Expanding one-on-one coaching and technical assistance through the firm’s Coaching for Impact program, with plans to mentor and graduate nearly 115,000 total small business owners in more than 80 cities over the next decade—an eight-fold increase in the number of graduates since program launch in 2020. Additionally, the firm aims to hire 1,000 more small business bankers across its network of 5,000 branches and intends to nearly double the number of Senior Business Consultants to 150, including targeted hiring in key markets such as Alabama, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
- Delivering value beyond traditional banking: Enhancing our suite of value-added services to help small business owners run and grow their businesses, including tools that simplify payroll, cash flow and invoicing, offer robust 401k solutions and provide actionable customer insights.
- Strengthening local commercial corridors and communities: Piloting revitalization programs along main streets in key markets by working with local partners and leveraging the firm’s commercial real estate and home-lending expertise to help small businesses attract customers, create jobs and drive neighborhood-level growth.
- Connecting small business owners with better healthcare alternatives: Small business customers have a strong interest in providing health insurance for their workers, but deep concerns about high and rising costs. After extensive research and conversations with customers, the firm has created a resource center to help small businesses evaluate healthcare coverage options and continue to invest in growing lower cost alternative plans.
- Helping small businesses access supplier programs for defense and government projects: Enabling small businesses to participate in supplier programs, especially for defense companies and government contracts, by leveraging existing firmwide relationships and government contractor initiatives. The goal is to empower small businesses to contribute to critical and growing industry projects such as AI and cybersecurity, while also helping them scale by accessing necessary labor and critical capital.
- Advancing policies that support entrepreneurship and job creation: Championing policies that increase capital and reduce red tape for small businesses such as the Small Business Administration’s Made in America Manufacturing Initiative to eliminate $100 billion in red tape costs.
To read more about JPMorganChase's American Dream Initiative, click here.
