Valley Partners to Host Funders Round Table Event
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Valley Partners is inviting banks, nonprofits, municipalities and other financial institutions to cultivate strategic partnerships during its Banking with the Valley’s Partners: Funders Round Table event.
Through the event, which will take place at 10 a.m. Oct. 17 at the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County’s Main Library, Valley Partners hopes to increase capital for small businesses located in underserved areas by encouraging those in attendance to invest in the GrowBiz CDFI (Community Development Financial Institutions) Revolving Loan Program.
“Valley Partners has been a Community Development Financial Institution, or CDFI, since 2021 and have not done our job in shouting it from the rooftops,” said Teresa Miller, executive director of Valley Partners. “We are the local CDFI boots on the ground organization for the Mahoning Valley. That means we are here to not only help small businesses access capital, but to empower our underserved populations and neighborhoods through small business financial education, counseling and community partnerships.”
To move Valley Partners’ efforts forward in collaborating with regional partners, funding opportunities that benefit all financial institutions through the Ohio Department of Development will also be discussed during the event. The keynote speaker will be Shaundretta Boykins, manager of business development and entrepreneurship at the Department of Development, who will offer insight on funding opportunities.
Matthew Longmire, Valley Partners business resource manager, said he anticipates the event to benefit both regional partners and small businesses.
“The Funders Round Table aims to foster a collaborative environment where financial institutions, community partners and government agencies can work together to strengthen our communities and empower small businesses through the increasing of our access to capital,” Longmire said. “We’re not just supporting individual businesses – our goal is to drive economic growth, creating and retaining jobs and serving underserved areas. Together, we can make a real difference in the lives of entrepreneurs and the prosperity of our region.”
Those interested in attending the event can register HERE.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
