In the blog below, Steve Hall, EOCF National Director and LISC Vice President of Small Business, explores what’s next for the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund as it hits its $500 million goal—ahead of schedule. Hall describes a borrower-informed strategy for the next three years that will build on and leverage climate resiliency and artificial intelligence efforts to expand loan products and get more capital into the hands of entrepreneurs who need it.

In an article in CNBC, Steve Hall, LISC’s vice president of economic development lending, analyzes the challenges small business owners face amid inflation and wage hikes coming in 2024. Balancing bottom lines with attracting talent and paying living wages in a volatile economic landscape makes for "a very precarious situation that small businesses find themselves in,” Hall said.

Anatomy of a Small Biz Partnership with Kevin Hart

Steve Hall, LISC’s vp for small business lending, recently joined entrepreneurship columnist Gene Marks on the Paychex Thrive podcast to describe how LISC’s partnership with Kevin Hart and his Gran Coramino tequila brand gets grants to Black and Latinx small biz owners—and why that’s so important. Part of the beauty of the collaboration, said Hall, is how Hart puts his all into creating opportunity for others, “even through his comedy.”