Wells fargo delivers on its promise to help underserved communities.

On Monday, the bank announced it was providing a $ 1 million grant to the Trenton Regional Business Assistance Corp. and a $ 500,000 grant to the Camden-based company Assistance company for cooperative enterprises. The grants are part of the Wells Fargo Open for Business Fund, which was established last year.

Organizations will use the grants to provide low-interest loans to small businesses that, for various reasons, did not have access to such capital.

Tomas Porturas, vice president of social impact and sustainability, said Wells Fargo hopes the funding will help underserved small businesses in Trenton and South Jersey stay open and save jobs through efforts. short-term and long-term COVID-19 resilience. It will also expand microcredit activities and programming for various business owners.

“The Wells Fargo Open for Business Fund is another avenue of support and draws on the expertise of our CDFI partners to urgently help various South Jersey entrepreneurs recover and preserve the jobs they provide in their communities, ”he said. “The funding will provide much needed access to capital with increased equity and technical assistance for local businesses, which are the backbone of our local economies and neighborhoods. “

Wells Fargo launched the Open for Business Fund in 2020 as an estimated $ 400 million stimulus effort for small businesses in the United States to help entrepreneurs recover and rebuild. The initiative focuses on increasing access to capital, technical expertise and long-term resilience programs.

Part of the fund’s money came from fees collected by the bank for processing PPP loans.

To date, Wells Fargo has distributed more than $ 84 million in 32 states to help entrepreneurs hard hit by COVID-19, with grants helping entrepreneurs maintain around 50,000 jobs.

Harry Stone, CEO and president of CBAC, said the program fills a need.

“This partnership with Wells Fargo allows us to close a credit gap that many traditional financial institutions are unable to fill,” he said. “We are grateful to help support small businesses in these difficult times and to help emerging businesses grow and prosper.”