Supporting small businesses can generate a big economic impact in San Francisco

This story originally appeared in the San Francisco Business Times

For over 40 years JPMorgan Chase has hosted our annual Healthcare Conference in Union Square–the heart of San Francisco. What started as a small gathering has morphed into a city-wide event–convening more than 8,000 industry leaders, creators, government officials and investors from across the world.

All told, this year’s event drove an estimated $92 million in economic impact to the city, according to JPMorgan Chase. We’re proud of that impact, and we’re eager to help chart a path to a vibrant future for the city. Home to some of the greatest innovators in the world–from tech companies to global brands to more than 30,000 startups – an excess of commercial real estate and office space is changing the way Bay Area residents live and interact with the city they call home. With downtown San Francisco generating roughly 70 percent of the city’s annual tax revenue, a vibrant city economy requires businesses and residents to live, work, and play there all year long.

Healthy communities are integral to our business, and showing up as a community partner in good and bad times is in our firm’s DNA. We've invested in the city for over 120 years, with more than 2.5 million consumer customers, over 7,000 employees, 230,000 small business clients and more than 220 branches across the Bay Area, according to JPMorgan Chase. With the city at a critical juncture, we want to partner with essential stakeholders to ensure the city can continue to grow and incubate the next generation of innovators.

In working with government, nonprofit and business leaders to confront economic challenges in cities like Chicago, Detroit, Paris, and Greater Washington, D.C., we’ve learned that while there are no silver bullets and every city faces unique challenges, small businesses play a foundational role in driving economic revitalization and building inclusive economic growth.

Drawing from our experience in other markets, we’ve identified three kinds of access that foster small business growth.

1. Access to opportunity. Supporting communities that exist at the margins can have exponential benefits for the broader economy. For example, in Detroit, it was estimated that if every Black-owned business hired two people, unemployment would be solved. So, we shifted our philanthropic strategy to support underserved small businesses in the market. With our help, more than 13,000 small businesses in Detroit received capital or technical assistance as of 2023. We’re scaling that approach across the country to cities like San Francisco where we recently provided more than $3 million in philanthropic capital to support organizations focused on helping businesses and entrepreneurs.
2. Access to credit. Thirty three percent of small businesses in San Francisco have cited access to capital as the greatest form of support for their business. What’s more, small business owners who live and work in communities of color disproportionally face barriers to accessing critical capital. In cities like Dallas, Houston, and Miami, where we launched pilot programs, Special Purpose Credit Programs (SPCP) have helped to extend credit to small business owners who might not otherwise be approved. We’ve since extended SPCPs in neighborhoods across the country, including San Francisco, to strengthen local economies.
3. Access to expertise. Small business owners face daily challenges – from inflation to supply chain disruptions. In addition to one-on-one coaching, we know the important role small business bankers play in navigating these challenges so small businesses can thrive. That’s why last year we announced our plans to hire 1,000 business bankers across the U.S. by the end of 2025. These hires, some of which will be in San Francisco and the Bay Area, are a testament to the power of small businesses and our commitment to supporting them through the business cycle.
    

A downtown comeback won't happen overnight, and the private sector can’t set the vision alone. But we can come to the table as listeners, lend our expertise, capital–building on our over $100 million philanthropic investments and commitments in the Bay Area over the past five years–and partner with local stakeholders to ensure the region remains a driver of economic growth. And if our past experience is any guide, a great place to start is with small business growth, which serves as an engine of the local economy and has a multiplier effect for residents, neighborhoods and broader economic growth.

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