Commonwealth, Mobile Partner For Small Business Loans

The City of Mobile and Commonwealth National Bank have partnered to launch the "Building a Business Legacy" program to leverage funding from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation to expand Commonwealth’s ability to provide small business loans to local entrepreneurs. The city’s $2-million contribution will be matched by $2 million from Commonwealth and dedicated to loans for local small businesses. As the loans are paid back, they are to create a revolving fund that will make millions of dollars available to small businesses that might not otherwise qualify for a small business loan. “Conservatively, we anticipate that this revolving fund will open up at least $10 million of capital to local entrepreneurs over the next five years, and the impact could be substantially greater over the program’s life,” said Mayor Sandy Stimpson. “As the only Black-owned bank in the region, Commonwealth has been a champion of Black business and entrepreneurship for decades, and partnering with them fits perfectly with the work our Office of Supplier Diversity is already doing.”