New NOEW Sponsor JPMorgan Chase to Invest $700,000 in New Orleans Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Yesterday marked the beginning of the 10th annual New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW), the week-long festival of entrepreneurship, innovation, and new thinking in the Big Easy. This year’s presenting sponsor is JPMorgan Chase & Co., the bank that has been doing business in New Orleans for more than 180 years.

JPMorgan Chase made an announcement this morning about the company’s $700,000 total investment in the New Orleans entrepreneurial ecosystem, specifically supporting women and minority-owned businesses through three organizations: Propeller, Good Work Network, and Camelback Ventures’ Good Jobs Initiative.

All three investments are designed to help create good jobs and foster economic inclusion across the city.

“There’s a striking emergence of entrepreneurial talent in our city,” said Katie LeGardeur, Managing Director and Market Leader for JPMorgan Chase. “We know that when we support entrepreneurs, we support prosperity, job creation and economic opportunity. Business owned by women of color are a rapidly-expanding sector of America’s economy. And by investing in these startups, we can help create real, inclusive growth.”

Propeller will receive $300,000 to increase the participation of women and entrepreneurs of color in their water sector, one of the key focus areas for their accelerator program. Good Work Network will also receive $300,000 to increase inclusion in the region’s economic growth, including New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The Good Jobs Initiative of Camelback Ventures will use their $100,000 investment to help local entrepreneurs increase revenue and create more jobs.

The announcement comes just prior to JPMorgan Chase’s event on Monday (March 19) at NOEW, a panel on economic inclusion and capital strategies for small businesses. This and all other events happening this week can be found via www.noew.org.