Program will celebrate National Small Business Month by awarding grants across Upstate New York to help economic development organizations connect with small businesses in underrepresented communities

The KeyBank Business Boost & Build program, powered by JumpStart, is celebrating the start of National Small Business Month by awarding $100,000 to the Urban League of Rochester (ULR) and the Ibero-American Action League.

With this funding, the two organizations will collaborate to increase the visibility of the ULR’s Minority and Women Owned Business Development Center in neighborhoods served by the Ibero-American Action League, with a particular focus on the Latino community, and to expand the Center’s capacity to serve more entrepreneurs.

“Assisting small businesses is critical to the economic vitality of the Rochester community,” said Urban League of Rochester President and CEO William G. Clark. “For the last 30 years, the ULR Business Development Center has been and continues to be a one-stop shop for any minority or woman interested in starting a business, expanding a current business, and/or becoming MWBE-certified. This partnership with JumpStart and investment from the KeyBank Business Boost & Build program will allow us to expand our collaborative efforts and help more women and minority entrepreneurs succeed.”

“The KeyBank Boost & Build program speaks to the heart of our mission: to help the clients and communities we serve thrive,” added James Barger, KeyBank Rochester Market President. “We are proud to partner with JumpStart to help minority and women owned businesses grow and succeed in Rochester. We can’t wait to see the good things and new opportunities this program will bring to our great city.”

Today’s event is one of four being organized in cities throughout Upstate New York (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany) to announce funding to local organizations from the KeyBank Business Boost & Build program.

Funded by a grant from the KeyBank Foundation in 2017, the KeyBank Business Boost & Build program is designed to stimulate economic growth in Ohio and Upstate New York by helping startups and small businesses grow and preparing the workforce for the needs of those companies.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs interested in learning more about the KeyBank Business Boost & Build program can visit http://boostandbuild.org/.

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About JumpStart Inc.
JumpStart unlocks the full potential of diverse and ambitious entrepreneurs to economically transform entire communities. For more information, follow @JumpStartInc on Twitter.

About KeyCorp
KeyCorp’s roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $137.0 billion at March 31, 2018. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, insurance, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,200 branches and more than 1,500 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

About the Urban League of Rochester
The Urban League of Rochester was founded in 1965 as an affiliate of the National Urban League. The organization’s mission is to enable African Americans, Latinos, the poor and other disadvantaged to secure economic self-reliance, parity and power and civil rights. For more information, visit www.ulr.org and follow @UrbanLeagueRoch on Twitter.

About the Ibero-American Action League
Ibero is a dual-language human services agency that ignites the potential of individuals and families to prosper and make the community stronger. Established in 1968, Ibero has evolved to an agency that serves individuals and families of all ethnic backgrounds, and our unique ability to target the Latino community remains unprecedented in this region. Through our educational programs, we prepare children for school; provide academic, health and social support to youth (and families); work with parents to help them strengthen their family unit and ensure that individuals with developmental disabilities have a high quality of life.