The Otto Bremer Trust invested $500,000 in the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation, WWBIC recently announced.
The investment includes a $400,000 program-related investment to be loaned to diverse and disadvantaged small business owners, according to a press release.
A $100,000 grant will also provide one-on-one technical business counseling and access to business education, networks, volunteers and other resources for those receiving loans through the program-related investment.
“We are gratified by the investment that the Otto Bremer Trust has made in WWBIC and our commitment to helping entrepreneurs and small business owners in communities of color across the state,” WWBIC president and chief visionary officer Wendy Baumann said in a statement. “These loans will impact businesses started, strengthened and expanded as well as jobs created and retained by them.”
The Otto Bremer Trust (OBT) is a bank holding company and a private charitable trust based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The OBT is the majority owner of Bremer Financial Corporation, a regional financial services company.
Since 1987, WWBIC has lent over $82 million in micro and small business loans and has a current loan portfolio of $23.5 million and over 564 active borrowers.
