Story Highlights

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Nearly 30% increase in business bankers and plans to expand its Coaching for Impact program to graduate more than 3,700 additional entrepreneurs across Greater Los Angeles and Riverside over the next five years.

More than $1 million in new philanthropic funding to strengthen Los Angeles’ small business ecosystem, building on more than $15 million deployed since 2020.

Plans to open a new Community Center Branch in East LA next month—the 2nd in Los Angeles and 20th across the nation—deepening support for local entrepreneurs and residents.

LOS ANGELES

August 05, 2026

JPMorganChase, the Official Bank of Team USA and the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games (LA28 Games) and a Founding Partner of the LA28 Games, today announced a significant expansion of its support for small businesses across Southern California—including Greater Los Angeles and Riverside. Over the next five years, the firm will hire more than 100 additional business bankers across the region—a nearly 30% increase—and plans to scale its Coaching for Impact program to graduate more than 3,700 additional local entrepreneurs. The firm will also open a new Community Center Branch in East Los Angeles next month, its 2nd in Los Angeles and 20th in the nation, deepening support for the neighborhood and connecting local entrepreneurs directly to financial education programming and resources.

In Los Angeles and across Southern California, the firm will deploy more than $1 million in new philanthropic funding to help expand procurement readiness and supplier connections, strengthen access to capital and business coaching and support community-based financial empowerment for small business owners, helping more local entrepreneurs grow and compete for opportunities tied to the LA28 Games. This new funding will help support over 120 local businesses and builds on more than $15 million deployed since 2020 to strengthen the small business ecosystem in Los Angeles.

This work in Southern California is part of the firm’s American Dream Initiative, a multi-year effort to scale effective solutions that help expand opportunity in communities and includes scaling firmwide support for 10 million small businesses nationwide—up from seven million served today.

“Entrepreneurs fuel the local economy, and their small businesses create jobs, strengthen communities and drive long-term growth across Southern California,” said Diedra Porché, Head of Community and Business Development and Regional Chair of the California and West Market Leadership Teams at JPMorganChase. “Following our announcement as the Official Bank of Team USA and the LA28 Games, and a Founding Partner of the LA28 Games, we’re focused on ensuring small businesses across the region benefit from this enormous opportunity. By combining philanthropic funding with the credit, capital and support small businesses need, we’re helping entrepreneurs navigate complex contracting processes and compete before and after the LA28 Games.”

Expanding capacity for growth through coaching and local business banking

JPMorganChase’s Coaching for Impact program provides complimentary one-on-one consulting, executive coaching and on demand education to help small businesses strengthen operations, improve credit readiness and drive growth at every stage. Nationwide, more than 15,000 entrepreneurs have graduated from the program since its launch—including more than 900 across Greater Los Angeles and Riverside.

The firm plans to increase its local business banker coverage by nearly 30% over the next five years—these bankers work directly with entrepreneurs, providing financial advice, access to capital and connections to valuable resources that help small businesses invest, expand and navigate economic hurdles.

“We know that many small business owners operate with only a few weeks of cash on hand, making it harder to manage day-to-day expenses while preparing for larger opportunities to grow their businesses around global events,” said Stevie Baron, CEO of Chase for Business. “That’s why we’re focused on connecting local entrepreneurs in Southern California to capital and resources that build resilience and help them navigate procurement pathways so more businesses are ready to compete for and deliver on major contracts.”

Growing our footprint to expand financial education

Next month, JPMorganChase will open a new Community Center Branch in East LA to expand support for local entrepreneurs and residents. The branch will feature a community room that can be used after hours, free Wi Fi and dedicated space for “One Chase” partners across banking, lending and investments—alongside local artwork and bilingual Spanish/English signage that reflect the neighborhood.

A Community Center Manager and Coaching for Impact consultant will be on-site to provide one-on-one guidance, workshops and tailored support to help entrepreneurs grow and build lasting wealth for the community. Since the first Community Branch opened in 2019, these branches have served as neighborhood hubs for financial education and resources that promote financial security, small business growth and homeownership. With nearly 120,000 residents—more than 95% identifying as Hispanic or Latino, over 80% speaking a language other than English at home and nearly 40% foreign-born—East LA is a community where culturally relevant programming and trusted partnerships can make a meaningful impact.

Strengthening Los Angeles small businesses ahead of the LA28 Games

In Los Angeles, JPMorganChase will provide more than $1 million in new philanthropic funding to local organizations to help strengthen the small business ecosystem and support entrepreneurs as they pursue major procurement opportunities, like those related to the LA28 Games—helping build a stronger pipeline of Los Angeles-based suppliers for contracting opportunities that can support the broader Southern California region.

Among the organizations supported are:

• Los Angeles Business Council Institute (LABCi): Expanding and improving Compete4LA, an online database connecting nearly 40,000 local small businesses to procurement opportunities—including driving suppliers toward RAMP (Regional Alliance Marketplace for Procurement), the City of LA’s procurement platform for all LA28 contracts and opportunities.

• Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment (PACE): Supporting operations for the City of LA’s ProcureLA initiative, which provides end-to-end support and connects small businesses to financing and contracting opportunities, including working capital to execute on awarded contracts. With this new round of funding, ProcureLA is expected to serve 120 additional small businesses, assist 60 in obtaining critical certifications and help businesses secure $7.5 million in awarded contracts, advancing the organization’s decades-long dedication to helping small businesses access procurement opportunities and drive local economic growth.

“Compete4LA levels the playing field by making Los Angeles small businesses more visible to buyers,” said Mary Leslie, President of the Los Angeles Business Council (LABC) and LABC Institute. “JPMorganChase’s support helped us get this first-of-its-kind mappable, searchable database off the ground. Now, we’re building on that foundation with new programs that give small businesses direct access to prime contractors, City and County agencies, and major employers. Together, these tools give more local businesses access to game-changing contracting opportunities and help them build lasting economic resilience in their communities.”

Impact in action

The firm’s philanthropic investments are already making a measurable difference for local small businesses. LISC LA, a local nonprofit organization supporting community and economic development across Los Angeles, has strengthened its signature small business growth program, Ascend LA, with support from JPMorganChase. Ascend LA helps small businesses strengthen their operations, access capital, prepare for procurement opportunities, navigate contracts, develop competitive bids and pursue relevant certifications. Since launching in 2020, Ascend LA has graduated 260 businesses and helped participants secure more than $81.6 million in contract and bonding outcomes. These results have helped Los Angeles businesses build resilience, expand capacity and scale for long-term growth.

“Small businesses do not lack ambition or ideas; they often need the right relationships, resources, and opportunities at the right moment,” said Jabbar Wesley, Senior Program Officer and Head of Economic Development at LISC LA. “JPMorganChase’s longstanding support has helped Ascend LA connect entrepreneurs with the expertise, capital, procurement pathways, and strategic relationships needed to compete for larger opportunities, create jobs, and building lasting wealth in their communities.”

JPMorganChase has also funded initiatives like Get in the Game, led by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and Next Street, a small business solutions firm. Launched in 2021, the initiative works to strengthen Los Angeles’ small business ecosystem by helping local suppliers get procurement-ready and connect to major contracting opportunities. The firm’s support included funding research by Get in the Game that identified an estimated $2 billion regional supplier capital gap and highlighted procurement bottlenecks that can limit small business growth. It also helped establish a coalition of organizations focused on strengthening the regional supplier ecosystem and driving long-term success for small businesses.

Building on our longstanding dedication to Los Angeles

JPMorganChase has served Greater Los Angeles for more than 135 years, helping to drive a prosperous economy that creates jobs, supports businesses and helps families thrive. The firm has over 330 branches serving more than 5.1 million consumer customers and 600,000 small business clients and provides credit, financing, treasury and payment solutions for businesses across various industries in the region.

The firm has spent significant time with clients, customers, policymakers and community leaders across Los Angeles to strategically deploy resources, including more than $9 million in philanthropic contributions in support of wildfire recovery since January 2025.

As the Official Bank of Team USA and the LA28 Games and a Founding Partner of the LA28 Games, JPMorganChase will help create opportunities for athletes, empower small businesses and invest in local communities.

About JPMorganChase

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America (“U.S.”), with operations worldwide. JPMorganChase had $5.0 trillion in assets and $375 billion in stockholders’ equity as of June 30, 2026. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.

About the American Dream Initiative

JPMorganChase’s American Dream Initiative is a multi-year effort to expand economic opportunity by scaling evidence-based solutions that help the economy work for more people. Through the Initiative, the firm will provide financing, facilitate capital, offer advice, training and tools, and advocate for policy solutions to help people start and grow small businesses, find affordable places to live, save and plan for their financial futures, get good jobs, access quality healthcare and strengthen local institutions. For more information on the American Dream Initiative, visit www.jpmorganchase.com/America.

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