Business
Tips on Accessing Capital as an Under-resourced Small Business Owner
Interview with Peter E. Jackson, MBA, Vice President, Sr. Business Consultant at J.P. Morgan Chase
By Josaline Cuesta, California Program Director, Small Business Majority
Entrepreneurship is essential to a thriving and equitable economy. Yet, too many of our smallest businesses—especially those owned by people of color, women, rural business owners, and other under-resourced communities—face significant hurdles in accessing capital from banks and other traditional financial institutions.
Small Business Majority prides itself on partnering with experts in the field to mitigate the unnecessary impacts of inequitable access to capital and help to break down systematic barriers.
Peter E. Jackson, MBA is Vice President, Sr. Business Consultant at J.P. Morgan Chase. His work in California has been integral to creating pathways for minority and women entrepreneurs to access capital successfully. I sat down with Peter for a Q&A to discuss his experiences, share his expertise and tips, and learn more about expanded opportunities for capital in a unique community.
Do you believe there is a barrier to accessing responsible capital for small business owners? If yes, do you believe that a certain group of small business owners are more susceptible to experiencing challenges? Why?
From where I sit, one of the biggest hurdles facing minority small businesses is access to financial education. Many Black and Latino business owners we work with through the Chase mentorship program, believe it or not, cite access to education as their top need, e.g., understanding working capital, credit readiness, financial planning, managing debt and cash flow, etc. Working knowledge of these principles is the foundation of building a small business. That means having your bookkeeping and financial operations to help you make your best case when seeking funding/capital from any lender. Not having this in order may delay any financing for your business. There are also questions to ask yourself, e.g. ‘Am I in a healthy financial position to pay back a loan or is a bank loan the right financing option for my business needs at this time?’ This is where a banking relationship or banker can come in handy.
Often, minority entrepreneurs may not have had the best relationship with a bank or may not have had a parent or close individual to seek guidance from related to entrepreneurship – the list goes on. The pandemic exacerbated many of the underlying racial disparities that already existed in the U.S., including the banking system. As a firm, we recognize these challenges and do everything we can to address them.
In 2020, JPMorgan Chase announced a $30 billion racial equity commitment to create an inclusive economic recovery and help Black and Latino small businesses, families, and local communities create and sustain generational wealth. We’re creating the infrastructure to help more minority-owned businesses grow and recover through new programs, products, and hiring. This service is free, and business owners do not have to be Chase customers to receive coaching and mentorship.
Information about the JP Morgan Chase Minority Owned – Business Program is available at: https://www.chase.com/es/business/minority-businesses
What stories have you heard about the ease of accessing capital for small business owners? Can you please share a few typical challenges and some success stories? Did any success stories involve innovation? Did owners have to think outside the box to gain continued access to capital?
Yes, thinking out of the box is an everyday part of what we as Sr. Business Consultants do. Every business owner comes from a different place financially and operates their business differently. An example of this was a local smoothie bar owned by a Latina entrepreneur in Fontana, California. I discussed her goals and challenges, and she needed to obtain a small working capital loan to hire a part-time employee to extend her business hours and add signage. I helped her calculate and understand her break-even to determine the right price she needed to charge for her product to be able to pay for an additional employee and add a sign to the front of her store. This was important because she established new sales goals to drive more revenue. Also, the loan underwriter could see her business now had sufficient income capacity to borrow and pay back a loan by charging enough to support the loan payment. Business owners often borrow without a plan to demonstrate they can repay the loan or without consulting their CPA to ensure they leave enough money in their business to borrow. Part of my role is to help small business owners understand their business finances and how to leverage them to scale and grow their businesses.
What are some ways to increase small business funding to expand access to capital?
From JPMorgan Chase’s standpoint, here’s what we are doing to expand access to capital for underrepresented communities. We have committed $396 million (page 23-25) in small business philanthropy to grow Black, Hispanic and women-owned small businesses and create a more inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
- ~$42.5 million to expand the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund (EOCF) in more U.S. cities, the program will offer low-cost loans and technical assistance to small businesses through LISC and CFDI network
- Philanthropic investments to build the capacity of diverse-led nonprofits across the globe and support the signature Ascend Program
- Policy solutions through the JPMorgan Chase Policy Center to improve U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) program to better meet the needs of minority- and women-owned small businesses.
Within Business Banking, we plan to provide an additional 15,000 loans -totaling $2 billion- to small businesses in majority-Black, -Hispanic and Latino communities over the next five years. To further expand access to credit to minority business owners, we’re:
- Exploring targeted adjustments to how the firm evaluates credit applications
- Introducing new products, including a digital lending platform, to better support the needs of small Black, Hispanic and Latino-owned businesses seeking quick access to capital.
What are some of your recommended, trusted community resources or training opportunities within the Inland Empire that will help with understanding ways to access legitimate capital?
- Mentorship, dedicated coaching, and education are critical to helping people get credit ready. Look into Chase’s 1:1 coaching for minority entrepreneurs across 21 U.S. cities, where they work with a senior business consultant to help them scale. Visit www.chase.com/businessconsultant to learn more.
- Visit the Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE), an SBDC program within California State University, San Bernardino, which delivers a wide range of programs, technical assistance, and services to existing small business owners or aspiring entrepreneurs in the community. Every state has a small business development center offered through U.S. SBA and colleges/universities.
- Lastly, I think AmPac, UCR, and the University of La Verne also have some of the strongest community resources that speak to access to capital, readiness, training, grant programs, microfinancing, etc.
Peter will join other financial experts for a Small Business Majority hosted event on September 14, 5:30pm PT. “Breaking Barriers: Accessing capital as women business owners of color” is a free event to learn tips for remaining resilient in business and how to navigate non-predatory debt financing options that will help grow or strengthen your woman-owned small business to help build generational wealth.
Register for this event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/breaking-barriers-accessing-capital-as-women-business-owners-of-color-registration-393175316957
Riverside’s Phenix Technology Leads with Inclusion, Empowering the Disabled Community Through Workforce Training and Employer Education
Written by Logan Rosselli, IEBJ Content Contributor
In the heart of Riverside, off of Chicago Avenue, a small, but mighty team has been quietly manufacturing life-saving equipment for firefighters across the world for over 50 years. Phenix Technology Inc. is an internationally recognized fire helmet manufacturer who builds their products from start to finish right here in the Inland Empire. For their great products, they’ve received numerous awards such as the Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Innovator of the Year, a 2016 “E” for Exports award from the U.S. Department of Commerce, a finalist position in the “Coolest Thing Made in California” competition and more. However, their most recent accolade doesn’t involve their products at all.
In 2024, Phenix founded the ground breaking “Opportunity for All” program to provide disabled community members with the opportunity to access career education, hands-on experience and employment opportunities through an 11 week training cohort. In this program, neurodivergent individuals wanting to find stable employment learn about standard hiring practices, writing a resume, effective interviewing and professional attire while getting on-the-job training with a partnered employer in the community. It has helped dozens of disabled community members to find a new sense of independence and achieve their full potential while helping local employers find dependable employees who bring a unique perspective to the workplace.
It’s for this program that the National Association of Workforce Development Boards (NAWB), a representative of over 570 workforce development boards across the United States, honored Phenix with the prestigious W.O. Lawton Business Leadership Award in late March.
“While we take tremendous pride in the products we make, we also believe we have a mission to create a better world through developing opportunities,” said Angel Sanchez, CEO of Phenix Technology in a statement released in early April. “Opportunity for All has helped prove that individuals who have historically been excluded from the workforce don’t just contribute — they elevate organizations. We are honored to receive this national award and grateful to the partners who have helped us make this vision a reality.”
CEO Angel Sanchez Jr. accepts the NAWB Award
Though “Opportunity for All” is certainly the cornerstone program for the company, Phenix’s leadership team was not satisfied to leave their mission there. Thus, in 2024, the company founded its nonprofit arm, Phenix Gateway to offer more programs and advocacy to the community. Through Phenix Gateway, the company offers workforce development workshops for individuals who don’t need the full scale of the “Opportunity for All” program, but want to improve a specific skill like resume writing or workplace social skills.
However, Phenix knows that preparing disabled people for the workforce is only one end of the equation; the workforce also has to be prepared to accept the unique skills, perspectives and challenges of the disabled community. For this reason, Phenix Gateway offers employer training workshops as well as educational materials available to businesses and the community. Training programs cover a lot of ground, ranging from assistance with optimizing interviews for people with neurodevelopmental disorders to creating sensory-friendly environments in the workplace.
In Riverside, these programs have had a huge impact on the local community. As of March 2025, Phenix’s Opportunity for All program has had over two dozen participants and 44% found stable employment through or after the program. Their one-off workforce development workshops have seen over 200 participants learn new skills and help them find employment and the nonprofit currently partners with close to 90 businesses to assist them in their endeavor to create a more inclusive workforce.
Phenix Gateway staff helps a program participant with his skills
For businesses or community members interested in learning how they can support or participate in these programs, Phenix encourages them to reach out by email to info@phenixgateway.org and to attend their First Annual Gala: Rising Together, A Phenix Gateway Celebration, on Thursday, May 15th. Tickets for this event are available at phenixgateway.org.
Empowering Economic Growth: CALED Conference Set to Unite Industry Leaders in Ontario
CALED’s ‘Growing Local Economies from the Ground Up’ Conference is being held in Ontario at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Ontario Airport on May 7-9. This event is co-hosted by the City of Ontario and San Bernardino County, with Jennifer McLain Hiramoto, CALED’s Chair of the Board and Derek Armstrong respectively representing their city and county as Co-Chairs of the event.
With over 950 members and 45 years of empowering economic developers, CALED is the largest economic development association in the country and the annual conference is the number one place to meet and connect with the boots-on-the -ground, decision makers in our communities.
The conference will include a pre-conference teaching tour, ‘Building & Paying for Development Projects’ on May 6th and then begin in full on May 7th, with a welcome session and breakouts. Overall, there will be four general assembly sessions and 18 breakout sessions, which will delve into local economic development practices and innovative tools.
In addition to compelling content, the conference will have numerous opportunities to connect with community leaders and valued peers through networking receptions, the culinary crawl, and new this year, the Tournament of Champions, where conference attendees will navigate a gauntlet of games to win the grand prize on the evening of Thursday, May 8th.
To learn more about the conference and register, visit the CALED website at www.caled.org.
Business
Strengthening Community Connections: Our Exciting New Partnership with Toyota Arena, Ontario Convention Center, and GOCAL
Contributed Content | By Chris Venhoff, Senior Vice President and Inland Empire Market Leader for Consumer and Business Banking at U.S. Bank
As the Inland Empire market leader for U.S. Bank, I’m thrilled to share some exciting news: we are proud to be the Official Bank Partner of Toyota Arena and Ontario Convention Center. This partnership represents a reflection of our deep commitment to the Inland Empire and our dedication to fostering a vibrant, thriving community.
At U.S. Bank, we believe that strong partnerships drive meaningful progress. Toyota Arena and Ontario Convention Center are at the heart of the region’s culture and economy, bringing people together for world-class entertainment, business conventions, and community events. By joining forces, we’re not only expanding our presence but also creating opportunities to engage with residents, businesses, and organizations in ways that make a lasting impact.
Through our sponsorship, we’ll support concerts, sporting events, and conventions that showcase the diversity and energy of the Inland Empire. But this is only the beginning. As our partnership evolves, we’ll work closely with Toyota Arena, Ontario Convention Center, and GOCAL to introduce community-focused programs, including financial literacy workshops and charitable giving initiatives.
This partnership is designed to bring added value to the people we serve. For our customers, we’re introducing the U.S. Bank Fast Pass Lanes, providing priority access at Toyota Arena events. Special offers, exclusive event experiences, and tailored financial solutions for businesses operating in the region are just a few of the many perks we’re excited to roll out.
Our employees are at the core of our success, and this partnership allows us to recognize their dedication. Through exclusive access to events, corporate hospitality opportunities, and community volunteer programs, our team will have new ways to engage with and celebrate the community they serve.
The Inland Empire is a dynamic, fast-growing region, and we’re committed to supporting its continued success. By investing in Toyota Arena and Ontario Convention Center, we’re helping to create and sustain jobs while driving local business growth. These venues bring in visitors, revenue, and visibility, strengthening the region’s economy.
This collaboration is about more than just sponsorship—it’s about making a difference. By working together, we can elevate not just these venues but the entire Inland Empire. At U.S. Bank, we’re committed to being a partner in progress, supporting our customers, businesses, and communities every step of the way.
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