LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky small business owners and entrepreneurs received a much-needed boost this week in the form of subsidized training and business development support through Community Ventures, who was awarded a $454,000 grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA funded this award to Community Ventures to provide pre-loan and post-loan training and technical assistance to small business owners to help them to start, stabilize and/or expand their small businesses.
Community Ventures offers a variety of services to small businesses as part of its Lending company. These services include specific business training support through Business Development Specialists, who meet with business owners to review business plans, develop marketing strategies, set up point of sale systems, and much more. These entrepreneurs also have access to capital to start or expand their businesses with microloans as low as $500 and as large as $50,000. Driven by its mission to help entrepreneurs realize their dreams of business ownership, Community Ventures serves businesses throughout the state, with primary offices in Lexington, Louisville, Millersburg, Campbellsville and Owensboro.
“This year has highlighted the importance of our role in strengthening small businesses in Kentucky. We know that entrepreneurship is integral to developing a community, creating jobs, and providing important services to people. The SBA has been vital to that work, and their commitment to Kentucky communities is what allows us to have the impact we continue to have.”
Community Ventures has a longstanding relationship with the Small Business Administration. This relationship has been integral to the growth of thousands of small businesses throughout the state. Community Ventures received this grant for training and technical assistance in previous years for similar purposes. The SBA also funds the Women’s Business Center of Kentucky, an organization specifically designed to support women-owned businesses by providing training and technical assistance to women entrepreneurs at every stage of business development.
The SBA’s investment with Community Ventures and the work it allows has never been more relevant than this year. As a result of the global health pandemic and the economic crisis it caused, CV has adapted to the changing climate by providing ongoing support to small businesses who are working to stay afloat. CV has seen an increase in small businesses in need of support and guidance through the pandemic, as many have been forced to adapt to reduced hours, federal and state-mandated restrictions, and reduced traffic from regular customers. CV has worked with hundreds of business owners this year to find solutions to the problems created by this pandemic, working to keep these businesses operational and to help them secure additional financing as needed.
If you would like more information about the work SBA enables CV to facilitate, please contact Jonah Brown, President of Marketing at (859) 544-3918 or [email protected].
Founded in 1982, Community Ventures (cvky.org) is a community-based, non-profit whose aim is to improve the quality of life, increase income and build assets with three main strategies: small business ownership, home ownership, and job creation through business expansion. CV is headquartered in Lexington with branch offices in Campbellsville, Frankfort, Louisville, Paris and Owensboro.
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