The Financial Law Forum Episode 5 - Advancing Financial Equality: How Small and Minority Owned Businesses Can Access New Capital through CDFIs and MDIs

Episode 5 - Advancing Financial Equality: How Small and Minority Owned Businesses Can Access New Capital through CDFIs and MDIs

In this episode, Tracee E. Davis and Tonya M. Esposito, partners in Seyfarth’s ESG and Consumer Finance Litigation groups, are joined by fellow Seyfarth partner and co-chair of the firm's Franchise & Distribution practice group, Andrew J. Sherman. 

Over the last few months, the COVID-19 crisis has disproportionately affected small and minority-owned businesses across the country, many of which found the Payment Protection Program inaccessible. In response, Congress has appropriated $9 billion dollars in funding through the Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP) for distribution through a national network of community development and minority-owned financial institutions known as CDFIs and MDIs. With this record-breaking amount of financing potentially available to small and minority owned businesses through CDFIs and MDIs, we discuss the ECIP and advancing equal access to capital in a two-part series. In this episode, part two of the series, we discuss the type of capital available to small and minority owned businesses, the lending process and eligibility requirements and the importance of cultivating a relationship with your local CDFI or MDI. Andrew shares with us his extensive experience in giving legal and strategic advice on various aspects of business growth, capital formation, and leveraging technology, and offers some practical tips to small businesses looking to grow and expand by gaining access to this flood of new capital.