The Grow Long Beach Fund Helps Local Businesses Expand And Thrive

By Pierce Nahigyan

The City of Long Beach offers microloan options for startups and small businesses with five or fewer employees, but what about established businesses that want to expand their operations? The Grow Long Beach Fund makes it possible for these businesses to receive up to $2 million in financing.

The program dates back to 1997, when the city entered into a partnership with the National Development Council (NDC), a private nonprofit corporation that serves as a Small Business Administration lender. Through its Grow America Fund (GAF) program, the NDC supports community development throughout the United States by offering financial assistance to small businesses. GAF enables the City of Long Beach to “leverage its lending capacity,” according to Economic Development Officer Seyed Jalali, by providing $10.13 in loans for every $1 the city invests in the program.

To date, Long Beach has invested $1.15 million in its Grow Long Beach Fund and provided $8,494,800 in loans to local businesses.


Read more on the Long Beach Business Journal