Focusing on the target
The EOCF is excited for the Miami-Dade region to join as its 10th market. The South Florida metropolitan area is a vibrant, diverse community where 69% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino and 17% as African American. Miami-Dade County is home to roughly 83,000 small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Entrepreneurs here speak 128 different languages and have gathered from over 100 countries around the globe. Over one in three entrepreneurs here are African American, Latinx or women.
Systemic inequalities block BIPOC small business owners from playing an even greater role in Miami-Dade's economic ecosystem. As with the rest of the U.S., entrepreneurs of color typically start off with less capital to initially invest in their companies and often struggle to get the loan funds they need to start, survive, or build scale. BIPOC small business owners are twice as likely to be ‘at risk’ according to the Federal Reserve and tend to cluster in service industries that are more vulnerable to disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting Strong
Hispanic, Black and women entrepreneurs will make a difference in Miami’s future, and EOCF wants to help. A 2019 study estimates that a 9% increase in small business jobs would effectively stem unemployment in the city’s distressed neighborhoods. Entrepreneurs of Color Fund in Miami-Dade County, will fuel investment and management services aiming to spur growth for 325 small businesses.
“At Ascendus, we believe in the power of 'Up' and understand that owning a business is a vehicle for financial ascension. In Miami, the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund program provides access to cpaital, business support, and a partnership network that ensures Miami business owners improve their lives, care for their families, and contribute to the community.”- Paul Quintero, CEO of Ascendus |
Our Partners
Our collaborative team of local CDFI partners supports you by providing capital and more. In Miami-Dade County, the EOCF is working with five local community development organizations that provide funding also key services including training, coaching and mentorship to help entrepreneurs like you succeed.
Ascendus has a bold vision of financial ascension for all and a mission is to empower low-to-moderate income business owners with access to capital and financial education. Since their inception over 30 years ago, Ascendus has dispersed $300 million in capital to 36,000 small business owners – primarily BIPOC, women, and immigrants. Its lending ranges from micro- and term-loans to credit lines for up to $250,000.
Ascendus also has workshops and counseling to help businesses on foundational topics such as credit, cashflow and debt.
The Community Fund of North Miami Dade (CFNMD) helps small businesses access capital to grow and be better prepared to face difficult times. CNFMD provides loans from $10,000 to $150,000 to for-profit minority and woman-owned businesses in Miami-Dade County.
CNFMD is here to provide you and your business with affordable business loans, along with transformative support so you have the capital and knowledge you need to grow your business.
Miami Bayside Foundation is designed to advance economic development in Miami through the support of minority businesses and education. Since 2011, MBF has awarded 164 loans totaling more than $9 million to Miami minority-owned businesses, helping to create more than 450 jobs. MBF continues its commitment to providing access to funds for minority entrepreneurs. Loans are available from $5,000 to $75,000.
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Prospera is an economic development, nonprofit organization that has specialized since 1991 in providing bilingual assistance to Hispanic entrepreneurs who want to start, sustain, and grow their business. In the last five years alone, Prospera facilitated over $70 million in loans for small business clients, trained 17,300 entrepreneurs, and helped consulting clients create or retain more than 16,000 jobs.
Are you a small business in Miami?
Get in touch about our loans & technical assistance.
We’re working with companies across
a broad range of businesses:
Food & Beverage |
Retail |
Restaurants |
Apparel |
“Sometimes business ownership is month-to-month, but having access to cash alleviates a lot of that burden and makes it possible to invest in things that help your business grow in the long run.”- Priscilla Reyes, Founder of Earthy Chic |
Our borrwers are putting the money to work in a variety of ways:
✓ INVENTORY✓ PAYROLL✓ EQUIPMENT PURCHASE✓ RENT | ✓ EXPANSION✓ PAYING DOWN DEBT✓ NEW HIRES✓ COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION |
Earthy Chic
A Small Business Spotlight
Priscilla Reyes started her fashion and accessory boutique Earthy Chic almost 10 years ago, building on a family tradition of crafting jewelry. Reyes began by setting up booths and tables around town at markets and street fairs and later found a storefront in a transitioning neighborhood that would later be known as Miami’s ‘Design District.’ Her business took root and grew to include four full-time employees. Earthy Chic now offers a curated offering of necklaces, dresses, skirts and jackets made by roughly two dozen designers both in Miami and across the globe from Columbia to India. Reyes also sees small business ownership as an avenue to create an income and allow her time to care for both her young children and aging parents.
An EOCF loan through Ascendus is helping Reyes now turn her attention to the future as she maps out Earthy Chic’s next chapter. With the capital she helped secure thanks to Ascendus hired a website development team to actively manage the boutique’s social media accounts and build scale with an email marketing campaign. “We are looking to eventually generate a steady revenue stream coming not only from our brick-and-mortar location but online as well,” she says. By expanding her horizons, Reyes is more confident she can keep up with a changing marketplace.