Key to the success of Newark, New Jersey’s minority- and women-owned small businesses, is the comprehensive technical assistance and low-cost funding provided by long-time collaborative partners focused on equity.
Compared to before the pandemic, small business loans cost more while approval rates are way down. However, there is an exception to this trend. Many Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are keeping interest rates low and approval rates high, thanks to corporations like Prudential Financial that understand the importance of affordable, flexible financing—with technical assistance—to entrepreneurs who face systemic barriers.
Funding from Prudential to Rising Tide Capital and Greater Newark Enterprises Corporation (GNEC) allow them to the