Heard on the Street – here’s what we were reading last week:
Vice President Harris Announces New Public and Private-Sector Efforts to Advance Racial Equity at Freedman’s Bank Forum: Vice President Kamala Harris announced historic efforts to catalyze and align public and private investments – including the formation of a new Economic Opportunity Coalition (“EOC”) – to address economic disparities and accelerate economic opportunity in communities of color and other underserved communities.
US Small-Business Optimism Improves for a Third Straight Month: Optimism among US small businesses edged up in September as firms grew less downbeat about the outlook for sales, while a smaller share said they raised prices.
Empowering Black-led CDFIs to Create Wealth in Black Communities: White-led CDFIs have six times the assets that Black-led CDFIs do, and while white-led CDFIs’ assets have increased over time, Black-led CDFIs’ assets have remained stagnant.
BMO Expands Minority Small Business Lending with Launch of U.S. Native-owned Business Program: BMO today launched BMO for Native-owned Businesses as part of its five-year, $5 billion BMO EMpower initiative aimed at supporting an inclusive economic recovery for minority businesses, communities and families through lending, investing, giving and engagement in local communities.