Like many businesses, JumpStart has had to pivot quickly over the last month—both to protect the health and safety of our own team and to find new ways to help the entrepreneurs and small business owners who need support more than ever.

Here are a few of the steps we’ve taken recently, along with a collection of links to help you get connected:

 

Unlocking Capital to Stabilize Startups and Small Businesses

Because we know capital is one of the most urgent needs of small businesses and startups, JumpStart, together with its partners, has taken steps to make millions of new dollars available to companies via grants, loans or investments:

Through the KeyBank Business Boost and Build program, JumpStart and KeyBank are providing $1M in funds for small businesses in communities across Ohio and New York. These funds are provided as part of larger, local small business stabilization funds being established across our communities to address the dire needs of small businesses, including those who have not been able to access federal government program dollars.

Funds already rolled out in Ohio include:

• The Cuyahoga County Small Business Stabilization Fund
• The Lorain County Small Business Emergency Grant Relief Program
• The Summit County COVID-19 Small Business Emergency Relief Grant Program
• The Faith in Stark Fund

JumpStart has also committed an additional $2M for current clients: $1.5M for some of the tech startups in our current portfolio and another $500K in loan support for select small business clients needing capital.

 

Expanding 1:1 Assistance in this Time of Social Distancing

Supporting startups and small businesses is our bread and butter, but we’ve had to shift this work substantially to help companies make decisions and access resources amidst changing information and high levels of stress and uncertainty.

Here are a few of the shifts we’ve made so far:

• We’ve compiled the most useful information we’ve found for entrepreneurs and small business owners and placed it in an expansive online resource guide.
• We’ve launched a new virtual COVID-19 workshop series to deliver educational content to as many businesses as possible. So far, these workshops have been attended by more than 650 people. You can view recordings of each workshop on our YouTube channel.
• Since mid-March, we’ve ramped up our virtual meeting capabilities to provide 575 companies with at least five hours each of one-on-one business assistance from the team.
• We’ve built a Spanish language application for services on the JumpStart website. We’re also launched bilingual virtual office hours on Fridays from 2-4pm. The number is 216-273-0665.
• We’ve joined the Cuyahoga County Small Business Resource and Call Center, available Monday through Friday 8am – 5pm at (216) 452-9714, to provide business technical assistance and information to our community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

As you can see, we’re working harder than ever to help companies during this difficult time and it’s an honor to have the community support to do so. Be sure to check the JumpStart blog regularly for more information on this evolving work and new updates as they become available.