Today Starbucks invested $3 Million in Pacific Community Ventures as one of the first seven Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to receive funding as part of the company’s Community Resilience Fund. With this first round, Starbucks is investing $21 million across these organizations to support equity and economic growth in the communities it serves.
Pacific Community Ventures is an impact investor that envisions a world of thriving, sustainable communities. PCV pursues racial and economic justice by building restorative financial products that center around small business owners’ needs. When COVID-19 hit, demand for PCV’s advising and capital grew almost 10,000%. While many banks and CDFIs stopped lending, and many BIPOC business owners were excluded from Federal recovery programs, PCV kept lending open, and rapidly responded to its clients by providing loan forbearances, and new loans. PCV also increased flexibility in its lending criteria, accepting businesses with only partial revenues and doing away with minimum credit scores to qualify. Through 2021, 84% of PCV’s loan capital has gone to women- and/or BIPOC-owned businesses, and 85% has gone to small businesses located in economically distressed areas.
PCV is one of America’s first impact investors, aligning capital with justice initiatives and to work for communities of color against hundreds of years of systemic racism.
“When the pandemic hit, we saw demand for our capital leap almost 10,000 percent, with loan inquiries totaling $172 million. This impact capital from Starbucks will allow us to continue delivering restorative capital to underestimated entrepreneurs across California who are facing the end of federal and state relief programs, to shape a more inclusive recovery ahead. We do this through a unique access to capital and business advising integration that supports our small business owners, and their workers, to thrive, through our good jobs model.” –Bulbul Gupta, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Community Ventures
In January 2021, Starbucks committed to invest $100 million to launch the Starbucks Community Resilience Fund. The Fund aims to advance racial equity and environmental resilience by supporting small business growth and community development projects in Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities with historically limited access to capital.
With today’s news on diverse spending goals for Starbucks supply chain, the company’s support of small business growth in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, and internal mentorship initiatives reinforces Starbucks commitment to build bridges and create environments where all are welcome.
“These commitments are in addition to the actions we’ve already taken on the realization of our vision to create an inclusive Starbucks,” said Dennis Brockman, Starbucks chief global inclusion and diversity officer officer in a letter to Starbucks partners (employees). “We all have a role to contribute and it’s with that purpose in mind that we continue to invest in these areas for all partners. Learning comes by doing, and that’s what we are committed to.”
Brockman emphasized the company’s continued commitment to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging on behalf of its over 200,000 partners and ongoing responsibility to strengthen the communities Starbucks serves across the country.
Thank you to Starbucks for your support of Pacific Community Ventures!