RapidRatings, Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce, and JPMorgan Chase Team to Strengthen Diverse Businesses Across Chicago
August 18, 2022
CHICAGO (PRWEB) AUGUST 18, 2022
RapidRatings, the Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce (ILBCC), and JPMorgan Chase announced the launch of the Financial Health Pilot Project – an initiative to help strengthen diverse businesses in the Chicagoland area by enabling minority-owned companies to develop long-term, sustainable business relationships. Participating business will receive a free financial assessment of their business and market intelligence to interpret, understand, and articulate their financial position to investors, lenders, clients, and other stakeholders.
JPMorgan Chase and RapidRatings are co-investing to provide complimentary, two-year memberships on RapidRatings’ FHR Exchange, a secure membership platform where businesses—of all shapes and sizes—can share and access financial health ratings, analytics, and other critical information—to grow and protect their businesses.
JPMorgan Chase’s senior business consultant team specializes in providing financial coaching and mentoring to minority entrepreneurs, as well as access to resources for better understanding their financial position and opportunities. That team, together with RapidRatings will develop a roadmap for business owners that will lead to clarity about their business finances, and ultimately increased financial health as measured by the RapidRatings financial health assessment.
Fifty Black-, Hispanic- and Latino-owned small businesses made up of clients of JPMorgan Chase’s senior business consultant team, and members of the ILBCC will participate in the pilot.
RapidRatings has a long history of enabling small businesses to access enterprise clients and expand their collaboration through the language of financial health.
“Diversity and inclusion are core tenets in our mission here at RapidRatings, which is why we are proud to partner with these two prestigious organizations to help minority-owned businesses make connections, attract new customers, and grow their organizations,” said James Gellert, RapidRatings Chairman & CEO. “Many small businesses fight to be seen by large companies and don’t get assessed on a level playing field. RapidRatings has enabled hundreds of thousands of private companies around the world to build long-lasting business relationships through financial health transparency.”
Larry Ivory, President of the Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce, said: “Tools that add value to access financial resources are important. The RapidRatings financial health project, in collaboration with JPMorgan Chase, will afford ILBCC members to position themselves for more financing opportunities and become more competitive and profitable in the marketplace.”
“Our commitment to businesses diversity goes beyond increasing our spending with diverse businesses,” said Ted Archer, Global Head of Business Partner Diversity at JPMorgan Chase. “We are taking steps to lower some of the most common barriers experienced acutely by Black, Hispanic, and Latino business owners in particular. This unique collaboration with RapidRatings and the ILBCC will help participating businesses access insights into their financial health that can set them on a pathway to more resilience, growth, and greater business opportunities.”
The pilot will provide deeper understanding of the FHR exchange and potential future collaboration opportunities and may expand to additional regions in 2023.
ABOUT:
RapidRatings
RapidRatings® sets the standard for financial health transparency between business partners, transforming the way the world’s leading companies manage enterprise and financial risk. RapidRatings’ FHR Exchange is an innovative and secure membership platform that gives businesses the ability to build more meaningful relationships by using predictive analytics to provide insights into how suppliers, vendors, and other third parties are likely to perform. The company provides the most sophisticated analysis of the financial health of public and private companies in over 140 countries worldwide.
Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce
For more than 22 years, the Illinois State Black Chamber of Commerce has helped over 100,000 Black-owned business across Illinois develop strategies to increase their long-term sustainability, competitive ability, and success in growing their business.
JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America (“U.S.”), with operations worldwide. JPMorgan Chase had $3.8 trillion in assets and $286.1 billion in stockholders’ equity as of June 30, 2022. 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 http://www.jpmorganchase.com.
