Economic Development

LISC invests in ways that benefit both people and places, including support for local business districts and emerging entrepreneurs. We organize programs and capital that build skills, diversify economies, attract new businesses and stimulate employment.

BDO Alliance

In 2022, LISC San Antonio began acting as convener and backbone for a group of local Business Development Organizations (BDOs), which are nonprofits who provide supports and resources for small businesses and entrepreneurs. These BDOs went on to form the BDO Alliance, which meets regularly to collaborate toward their goal of creating a more equitable ecosystem in which economic success is not determined by geography, race or gender but instead is accessible to all and supported by strong, trusted relationships that deliver training, technical assistance and funding to small businesses. In 2023, LISC San Antonio was awarded a $3.6 million ARPA contract through the City of San Antonio Economic Development Department on behalf of the BDO Alliance to support their work and the small business ecosystem as a whole.

Small Business Ecosystem

With support from JPMorgan Chase, Common Future and Next Street developed and released a Small Business Ecosystem Assessment, for which LISC SA served as a project lead, in late 2020. This study found a historic, unmet annual demand of about $8.3 billion in capital for small businesses in Bexar County, a shortcoming that is particularly acute for local businesses owned by people of color. Small business owners and business support providers discussed the San Antonio small business community's most pressing needs, the greatest opportunities for impact, and how we can work towards narrowing racial gaps in small business ownership, revenue, and employment across Bexar County. In the past few years, JPMorgan Chase has continued to support LISC San Antonio in implementing the report's suggestions to strengthen the local Small Business Ecosystem.

Read the San Antonio Small Business Ecosystem Assessment [+]

Our work in San Antonio is part of LISC’s major national expansion of economic development activity. We are committing half of our more than $1 billion in annual investments across the country to inclusive economic development. In San Antonio, we are already working to support this initiative.