City of Akron weighing $750k shot in the arm to help nonprofits assist small businesses

The city of Akron wants to provide $750,000 in American Rescue Plan Act federal funds to area nonprofit organizations to serve the city’s small businesses.

Suzie Graham Moore, the city’s director of economic development, told the Beacon Journal that specific dollar amounts have been earmarked for three organizations:

• Bounce Innovation Hub: $298,767.72
• Akron Urban League: $296,577.28
• Western Reserve Community Fund: $154,655

At a minimum, 150 small businesses will benefit if the plan is approved by City Council, she said.

“But there may be many, many more,” she added.

During the Monday meeting of Akron City Council’s Planning & Economic Development Committee, Graham Moore said businesses that can participate in the program must show they were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic or fall within what the U.S. Housing Department of Housing and Development (HUD) calls a “Qualified Census Tract.”

The HUD website states, “Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Qualified Census Tracts must have 50 percent of households with incomes below 60 percent of the Area Median Gross Income (AMGI) or have a poverty rate of 25 percent or more.”

Lynn Puryear, the vice president of the Entrepreneurship Center and operations at the Akron Urban League, told the committee on Monday that the organization serves African American-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses throughout Ohio.

“We recognize that eight out of 10 African American-owned businesses fail within year one,” Puryear said. “A lot of that has to do with not necessarily being set up correctly on the forefront, or on the front end.”

The Akron Urban League plans to help the businesses it serves to correctly set up their financial structures and gain certifications that allow them to better access capital, as well as help in other ways to ensure they are successful, Puryear said.

“Right now, we serve around 800 businesses a year,” Puryear said. “Of those 800, we have about 300 new businesses that come through our doors every year. And we really want to slow that down and be more intentional around supporting those that come in so that their businesses can grow.”

Rachel Bridenstine, executive director of the Western Reserve Community Fund (WRCF), told the committee that the ARPA dollars will help the organization extend its reach beyond the more than $9.5 million in loans that it has already put out into the community. Of those loans issued by WRCF, a managed entity of the Development Finance Authority of Summit County, about 76% have been issued to Black-owned businesses, and roughly 50% have gone to women-owned businesses.

“So, we all know that a lot of the keys to supporting small businesses, specifically, is access to capital, but then also the access to technical assistance or professional services — accounting, marketing, legal, et cetera,” Bridenstine said. “This will really help us be able to offer more to the people that we’re serving.”

LaTonda Mobley works to improve neighborhood business districts in her role as administrator of the Great Streets Akron Initiative. She told the committee that every Wednesday from May 15 through August, she will host conversations in each Great Streets district.

“As we engage our Great Streets district business owners and property owners, that’s one of the best ways to make sure that our business owners are informed about the resources that are available to them,” Mobley said. “We also engage with them through different networking events around the city and through word of mouth.”

Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @pwilliamsOH.