Grant will Fund Collaboration Between Dayton Chamber Minority Business Partnership, Dayton Minority Business Assistance Center and Wesley Community Center

Today, the KeyBank Business Boost & Build program, powered by JumpStart, awarded a total of $100K in funding to three Dayton community organizations through the KeyBank Center for Technology, Innovation and Inclusive Growth.

Together, the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce’s Minority Business Partnership, the Dayton Minority Business Assistance Center and the Wesley Community Center will launch Pathways, a business and workforce development initiative designed to build a pipeline of high-performing minority businesses and create new jobs.

The Minority Business Partnership will lead the collaborative. Other partners include the Dayton Area Chamber’s 29 Committed Buying Organizations, the University of Dayton’s Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, The Entrepreneurs Center and Small Business Development Centers.

“We are very excited to partner with JumpStart and the KeyBank Business Boost & Build program,” said Belinda Stenson, Director for the Minority Business Partnership for the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. “This collaboration makes natural sense as part of our shared mission to build a strong community full of thriving minority and women-owned businesses and access to good jobs.”

“These three organizations are such important pieces of our community,” said KeyBank Dayton Market President Joey Williams. “We are proud to be able to support their collaboration in a way that will help drive business growth and job creation.”

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.

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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 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 Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce
The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce brings together more than 2,400 businesses and organizations in a nine-county area surrounding Dayton, Ohio. The Chamber strives to improve the region’s business climate and overall standard of living through public policy advocacy, economic development initiatives and providing networking and training opportunities for its members. The Minority Business Partnership (MBP) is an economic development initiative of the Chamber, focused on growing the local economy and strengthening area businesses by leveraging the Dayton region’s minority talent and assets. For more information about the Chamber, visit www.daytonchamber.org or call 937-226-1444.

About the Dayton Minority Business Assistance Center (MBAC)
The MBAC is hosted by the City of Dayton’s Human Relations Council and is one of seven programs funded by the State of Ohio’s Development Services Agency. MBAC provides free managerial, certification, technical and procurement assistance to minority, women and small local enterprises in Montgomery, Greene, Clark, Darke, Preble, Mercer, Auglaize, Shelby, Logan, Champaign, Madison and Miami counties of Ohio. For more information, visit www.DaytonMBAC.org.

About the Wesley Community Center
The Westley Community Center is a nonprofit faith-based organization offering education services for youth, job placement for adults and nutrition and healthy lifestyle activities for seniors. For more information visit our website at www.wesleycenterdayton.org.