Mayor Adams, SBS Commissioner Kim announced that more than 600 small businesses were served through landmark Opportunity Fund.

On June 8, Renaissance Director of Programs Jannie Lai and Director of Lending Veronique Marcus had the pleasure of attending an announcement by New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Kevin Kim marking the milestone of 600 small businesses assisted and $50 million deployed through the NYC Small Business Opportunity Fund, which launched In January 2023. 

This landmark initiative will deploy $75 million in low-interest capital to underserved small businesses throughout New York City, and Renaissance was chosen as one of eight CDFI lending partners due to its 25 years of experience reaching minority, immigrant, and low- and moderate-income (LMI)-owned small business clients. Renaissance alone has deployed more than $5 million in Opportunity Fund loans since the beginning of this program. It has been a true organization-wide effort, and we thank all of our staff for their dedication to Renaissance’s mission of serving NYC communities in need.  

Less than five months into the program, Renaissance and the other lending partners have already deployed two-thirds of the $75 million funding allocation, a testament both to the work of program partners and the level of need shared among our organizations’ client bases. We are grateful to New York City for the opportunity to participate in this program, and the recognition that even as pandemic conditions subside, the urgent need for affordable small business capital remains.

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