Thrive305 > Priorities & Actions > Priority 5 > Action 5

5.5: Help small businesses get access to capital

Issue Statement and Context

Small businesses and entrepreneurs rely on access to loans, investment capital, and other forms of financing to build and grow their businesses, but many of our region’s small businesses struggle to obtain the capital they need.

Some of the hurdles are individualized, like issues with credit scores, debt aversion, or a business knowledge gap, while others are more systemic, like limited sources of funding. Banking consolidation and the decline of local financial institutions, including community banks, has translated into financial access barriers that are especially acute for minority- and women-owned small businesses, who are disproportionately denied the funding they need from banks.
Fundfinder
Image representing banking and minority-owned businesses

Detailed Action Summary

Make it easier for small businesses to access capital, particularly women and minority-owned businesses.
  • Prepare small businesses for funding and capital by supporting expansion of training and peer coaching that includes business financing and accounting.
  • Strengthen and support expansion of CDFIs in Miami-Dade.
  • Leverage federal recovery dollars and CDFI partners to lend low-cost, government-backed capital to brown- and Black-owned businesses.
  • Expand small business grant programs such as Miami-Dade’s Mom & Pop Small Business Grants.
  • Establish a one-stop, single-application portal for local entrepreneurs seeking loans.