Goldman Sachs to offer $20M in loans to Chicago businesses - Chicago Tribune

Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein in April of 2010. (AP file photo/Susan Walsh)

By Wailin Wong Tribune reporter

10:30 a.m. CDT, September 13, 2011

Goldman Sachs is funneling $20 million in loans to Chicago's small businesses as part of a broader program to provide funding, training and support services to entrepreneurs, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday.

The investment bank launched its 10,000 Small Businesses initiative in 2009, committing $500 million. The program is already running in Houston, Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans and Long Beach, Calif. Chicago business owners can apply through the website of City Colleges of Chicago, which is partnering with Goldman Sachs for the initiative's educational component. The program begins in January 2012 and classes will be free to entrepreneurs that are selected from the application process.

The lending component of the initiative will be managed by Community Development Financial Institution funds, which work with businesses that are shut out of traditional sources of capital. Goldman Sachs has set aside $20 million in loans to be disbursed to Chicago-area businesses.

It was not immediately clear from the initial announcement how business owners can qualify and apply for the loans.

Emanuel is scheduled to hold a press conference about the announcement this morning at Harold Washington College.

wawong@tribune.com

Twitter: @velocitywong

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