Many small businesses across the country are struggling to make ends meet in the wake of COVID-19, and the St. Louis region is no exception.
To meet the need, Justine PETERSEN stepped up as a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) lender to support small businesses in the St. Louis area who might not have connections with traditional banks. The Wall Street Journal recently took notice of how Justine PETERSEN is doubling down on their commitment to support small businesses in 2021.
Rebecca Mawuenyega of Dellwood Pharmacy was one of those businesses in the St. Louis area struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Her business benefitted from PPP lending at Justine PETERSEN after losing more than 40% of her revenue. Her business was able to receive $16,000 through the program at a critical time and is pursuing PPP lending for a second time due to recent increases in local COVID cases.
“Because the COVID numbers are going up, it’s happening again.”
-Rebecca Mawuenyega
The PPP loan made possible through Justine Petersen helped Dellwood Pharmacy to keep her business open and serving the local community.
And her business isn’t the only one benefiting from the program.
“There seems to be a healthy demand” said Galen Gondolfi, Chief Communications Officer at Justine PETERSEN. In the first week, they received about 150 inquiries from small businesses asking about the PPP program.
Rebecca Mawuenyega of Dellwood Pharmacy
Moreover, Justine PETERSEN has been tracking where their PPP lending is going. 75% of the $14.8 million in their PPP lending went to BIPOC-owned small businesses, which were much less likely to access PPP lending during the first round of the federal stimulus program.
Justine Petersen’s mission is to connect institutional resources with the needs of low- to moderate-income individuals and families, helping them to build assets and create enduring change - not just for each individual or family that they assist, but the community as a whole.
Justine PETERSEN is a member of the St. Louis CDFI Coalition, a partnership among eight CDFIs that offer an array of capital, development, and consulting services and share a common mission to empower a comprehensively healthy St. Louis community through support for nonprofits, small businesses, and communities facing disinvestment.
All photos from this story taken by Rebecca Mawuenyega. Read the full story from the Wall Street Journal here.
