MONTEBELLO, N.Y., Aug. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sterling National Bank (NYSE: STL) today announced its support of the Business Outreach Center (BOC) Network, a New York City-based community development organization. This new partnership will provide recovery assistance and relief to minority and women owned small businesses in NYC communities directly impacted by COVID-19-related financial hardships.
To fund the partnership, the Sterling National Bank Charitable Foundation approved a $250,000 grant. The funds from the grant will support:
- Rent relief for business incubator members
- Business operations and reopening costs
- Childcare business support so that parents may return to the workforce
- Employer training for health and safety
- Digital transformation
Sterling National Bank will also provide educational support to enable approximately 1,200 micro and small businesses owned by women and individuals of color to benefit from business recovery workshops, individual business and financial counseling, and one-on-one technical assistance throughout NYC.
“In addition to low-cost COVID-19 relief loans with built-in deferment for three to six months through our Entrepreneurs of Color Fund, as well as Child Care Means Business grants for licensed home-based providers, BOC will provide local entrepreneurs free office space with onsite assistance services to sustain their businesses at the BXL Business Incubator in the Bronx, thanks to Sterling National Bank joining as a major sponsor,” said Nancy Carin, executive director of BOC.
“We know the recovery of these small businesses is vital to NYC and we are eager to provide these resources,” said Jack Kopnisky, Sterling National Bank CEO. We see this type of community support as vital to what we at Sterling National Bank do, and how we give back to the communities in which we live, work, and operate.”
In addition to the areas noted above, areas of support will include:
Entrepreneurs of Color Fund: Offering loans to entrepreneurs of color with deferment built in for three to six months and lower interest rates.
Home-based Child Care Business Support: Offering grant funding to licensed home-based childcare providers: Family and Group Family Daycares.
Outreach and Education: Delivering individual business and financial counseling, bi-lingual COVID-19 recovery-focused webinars and pre-loan and post-loan/grant technical assistance to access available resources through BOC Capital, government, and alternative financing sources.
BXL Business Incubator: Offering office space with onsite business assistance services to local entrepreneurs to provide opportunities and support for community of entrepreneurs.
To participate in these services, qualified businesses should email boccapital@bocnet.org. BOC counselors will interview small business owners to assess their needs, offer advice on running a business and discuss how new financing will be used. There are counselors available to speak with in Spanish, English, French and Chinese.
For more information on how this grant will impact recipients please email: boccapital@bocnet.org.
About Sterling National Bank
Sterling Bancorp, of which the principal subsidiary is Sterling National Bank, specializes in the delivery of financial services and solutions for small to mid-size businesses and consumers within the communities we serve through a distinctive team-based delivery approach utilizing highly experienced, fully dedicated relationship managers. Sterling National Bank offers a complete line of commercial, business, and consumer banking products and services. For more information, visit www.snb.com.
About Business Outreach Center Network
The Business Outreach Center (BOC) Network is a micro-enterprise/small business development organization with over a two decade-long record of delivering customized business services to under-served entrepreneurs in the New York City metropolitan area, as well as capacity-building services to organizations establishing and operating community and micro-enterprise development programs.
BOC Network is dedicated to inclusive economic development and community wealth creation. Its mission is to improve the economic prospects of traditionally underserved groups, with a focus on diverse entrepreneurs and their communities, and thereby create genuinely brighter futures. For more information, visit: http://www.bocnet.org/.
