Google providing $1.15M to Trufund with aim to help small businesses recover from COVID-19 in Alabama and elsewhere

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March 8, 2021

Internet giant Google announced Monday that it has given TruFund, a financial services company that works to advance underserved communities and operates in Alabama, over $1 million to help small businesses recover from COVID-19.

The funding comes in the form of a $1 million loan from the Google Small Business Fund and a $150,000 grant from the Opportunity Finance Network, a program of the company’s charitable arm, Google.org.

TruFund has a field office in Alabama and has given out around $14 million in loans to small businesses across the state as of January. It is a 501(C)3 certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).

CDFI’s are money lending entities expressly designed to help capital flow into impoverished communities often overlooked by larger financial institutions.

TruFund said in a release that the money from Google will go to supporting minority- and women-owned small businesses in Alabama.

An executive at Birmingham-based Regions Bank sits on Trufund’s board. The organization is based in New York City and operates branches in Louisiana and Texas similar to the one in Alabama.

“The economic uncertainty sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for increased capital to minority- and women-owned small businesses,” said Kim Carter Evans, the director of Corporate Communications at TruFund. “This partnership with Google will help us serve a greater number of small businesses who are desperately seeking capital to sustain their operations and continue serving their communities.”

Information on how to contact TruFund can be found here.

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.