Just like the entrepreneurs we support, we know it’s important to keep innovating to meet the needs of our community. Recently, a lot of that innovation has been taking place in our Capital department. At the beginning of this year, RMMFI started offering $1,500 business grants and 50% loan forgiveness to entrepreneurs living or primarily operating their businesses in Northwest Aurora in partnership with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. We are also offering $1,500 business grants to formerly-incarcerated entrepreneurs as an additional benefit of joining Business Launch Boot Camp.

With both of these communities, we saw opportunities to provide greater investment in reducing the barriers to business ownership. Our goal is that these new capital offerings will allow entrepreneurs to focus more deeply on building their businesses, with increased cash flow in the early stages to support both personal and business needs and lower financial risk for loan-ready entrepreneurs.

We’re excited to measure the impact these new offerings have in the short and long term, and one recent boot camp graduate is already demonstrating that impact for both himself and his Northwest Aurora community. Click here to read the story of Jeremy Davis, who is using the business grant as a jump-start to bring healthy and delicious food options to his neighborhood.