PACIFIC COMMUNITY VENTURES

Imagine what life is like when you don't know where your next paycheck is coming from — or if your current paycheck doesn't pay the bills. With the widest income gap since the '20s, and increasingly limited economic mobility, the U.S. urgently needs new businesses that offer quality jobs and investments that support underserved communities.

Pacific Community Ventures is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and community development financial institution (CDFI) that believes small businesses in local communities should have easier access to the high-caliber advice and capital that revolutionized the high-tech industry. “Mom and pop" businesses and entrepreneurial ventures bring stability and renewed energy to deteriorating neighborhoods, and help revitalize poor inner city, suburban and rural areas.

Our services include advice and capital to help small businesses succeed, plus impact evaluation, research, and policy services to propel the impact economy forward. Our unique ecosystem of programs work together to catalyze the creation of community wealth and to drive lasting, positive economic change.

PCV addresses the challenges of sustainable small business growth and quality job creation through its Business Advising program. In 2013 the online platform BusinessAdvising.org was launched. BusinessAdvising.org provides free high-quality assistance to entrepreneurs regardless of business challenge or location.

A fresh take on corporate social responsibility, BusinessAdvising.org recruits the nation's brightest business minds to volunteer their expertise as business advisors. Business advisors volunteer at least 5 hours per month through phone, Skype, or email and provide advising in areas that are crucial to small business success such as finance, marketing, sales, operations, human resources, and leadership. As the program continues to scale, entrepreneur enrollment has increased by over 300% since last year, with sign-ups from over 40 states

Pacific Community Ventures (PCV) was founded by two Silicon Valley executives who believed that small businesses in underserved communities should have access to the same high-caliber advice and capital that revolutionized the tech industry.

Over the past 17 years, PCV has provided entrepreneurs—either located in and/or hiring from lower-income communities—with access to the tools of venture capital. Providing access to capital, expertise, markets, and networks, PCV helps small business growth develop into quality job creation.
Outside of PCV, there are few outlets for entrepreneurs to access individual, in-depth support. While development organizations attempt to provide support services, many have a small staff that can only help address general challenges. When specialized support is needed, some organizations' only option is to hire paid consultants, a model that is not financially sustainable or scalable for nonprofits. BusinessAdvising.org allows PCV to reach entrepreneurs nationally by matching them for free with volunteer business professionals that can provide the in-depth insight and game-changing advice they need to grow their business.

Since 1998, PCV has provided game-changing support to more than 3,600 entrepreneurs, creating and maintaining more than 34,000 jobs. In total, PCV-supported companies have paid over $280M in wages to workers living in lower-income communities. PCV-supported companies have shown job growth rates at ten times the national average. Fifty percent of PCV-supported companies are female-owned, and 56% are minority-owned. PCV became a certified small business lender in 2013. Since then, PCV has deployed more than $1.6M in capital to small businesses. In recognition of the organization's impact, the Association for Corporate Growth named PCV the 2011 Bay Area Nonprofit of the Year, and PCV won the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce's 2014 Economic Development Ebbies Award.

BusinessAdvising.org is on track to advise 350 small businesses nationwide by yearend 2015, helping to retain more than 3,000 jobs and create more than 430 new jobs. With plans for scale and growth, BusinessAdvising.org aims to advise 440 businesses nationwide by yearend 2016, helping to retain more than 3,800 jobs and create 550 new jobs. By yearend 2017, BusinessAdvising.org aims to advise 550 businesses nationwide, helping to retain more than 4,800 jobs and create more than 680 new jobs.