Small Business Growth

We strengthen communities and help create local jobs by investing in underserved small business owners. We fund nonprofits that are focused on providing capital, technical assistance and networks of support for entrepreneurs.

Videos from this campaign

Content from this campaign

Social Impact & Volunteering

Helping California Small Business Owners Make a Way During the Pandemic
Helping California small business owners make a way during the pandemic. Through its Open for Business Fund and the Paycheck Protection Program, Wells Fargo is continuing to support small businesses in California with the capital and resources they need to make a way to stay open, day after day.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Helping Restaurants Stay in Business While Feeding Those in Need
Mayra Velazquez had just opened a second branch of her Mexican street food-inspired restaurant Xingones in Oakland, California, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit last March. Within weeks, the business she had spent the last four years growing from a farmer’s market pop-up into multiple eateries had vanished — along with 80% of her revenue.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

'I Was Able to Focus on the Big Picture Again'
It's not until she says it out loud that Roxanne Best truly realizes all of the different jobs she does. “I always think, ‘Wow, how do I do all of that?” Best said. Years ago, she was a scuba diving instructor and filmed students’ underwater trips, developing a knack for photography and videography. She then worked for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation’s casino and started her photography business on the side. Eventually, it grew into her full-time job.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Providing 'a Ramp Back to Success' for Small Businesses
At the age of 34, Brian Menges had achieved his life dream of owning a restaurant, 2nd Street Bistro, in Livingston, Montana. Business was good over the years for Menges, who now owns the restaurant group Slainte Mhath Inc., which also includes The Murray Bar, Gil’s Goods, and a commercial kitchen.

Diversity & Inclusion

$5M Award to Chicanos Por La Causa From Wells Fargo's Open for Business Fund Program
It is with great enthusiasm that Chicanos Por La Causa announces a $5 million award from Wells Fargo to help enhance relief programs in AZ, CA and NV for small businesses that continue experiencing hardship related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Raza Development Fund Awarded Wells Fargo Open for Business Grant to Provide Relief for Small Businesses Impacted by COVID-19
PHOENIX, AZ.—Raza Development Fund (RDF), the nation’s largest Latino Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), has been awarded a $3.5 million grant from the Wells Fargo Open For Business Fund in support of its Small Business Initiative program which serves minority and women-owned small businesses suffering from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The funding will extend its reach to support small businesses in Arizona, Ohio, Texas, Minnesota, and Florida. RDF will continue to provide technical assistance to businesses in all markets and help them arrive to a state of readiness to receive long term capital (low-interest loans) as a resource that will enable minority-owned businesses to achieve sustainable growth and long-term self-sufficiency.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Wells Fargo's Open for Business Fund Boosts Access to Minority Lending
As many small businesses are still experiencing hardship from the COVID-19 pandemic, Wells Fargo is working to support its customers in another round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and continuing to provide additional small businesses support through its Open for Business Fund. To date, the Open for Business Fund has deployed more than $84 million in philanthropic capital to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which has helped an estimated 16,000 struggling minority-owned small businesses and helped keep in place 50,000 small business jobs.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

What Small Businesses Really Need to Make a Comeback
There’s a myth in the small business world: if you give an entrepreneur enough access to capital, they will succeed. The truth is, access to technical expertise around areas like budgeting, marketing, customer development, and supply chain management can be just as important as financing.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Wells Fargo Pledges up to $20 Million to Support New York Economic Recovery Efforts
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) announced today that it pledged up to $20 million to support the New York Forward Loan Fund (NYFLF), an economic revitalization program across New York State.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Wells Fargo Launches $400 Million Small Business Recovery Effort
Following an April 2020 industry-leading commitment to donate all gross processing fees from the Paycheck Protection Program, Wells Fargo unveiled today the details of an approximately $400 million effort to help small businesses impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic keep their doors open

More from Wells Fargo

  1. Financial health
    At Wells Fargo, we're opening pathways to economic advancement for racially and ethnically diverse and low- and moderate-income individuals and...

  2. Housing affordability
    We drive solutions to enable people to open doors to a safe and affordable place to call home, the foundation for wellness, dignity, and economic...

  3. Environmental Sustainability
    Climate change is one of the most urgent environmental and social issues of our time and we believe that collective action is needed to accelerate a...

  4. Wells Fargo Social Impact and Sustainability
    Wells Fargo & Company is a leading financial services company that has approximately $1.9 trillion in assets and proudly serves one in three U.S...

  5. Small Business Growth
    We strengthen communities and help create local jobs by investing in underserved small business owners. We fund nonprofits that are focused on...

  6. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
    We’re committed to advancing diversity and inclusion by helping ensure that all people across our workforce, our communities, and our supply chain...

  7. Helping California small business owners make a way during the pandemic
    Through its Open for Business Fund and the Paycheck Protection Program, Wells Fargo is continuing to support small businesses in California with the...

  8. Wells Fargo's 2020 CSR Goals
    At Wells Fargo, we're taking an active role in addressing pressing societal challenges to drive positive impact. Learn about our environmental, social...