Forward Financing offers its customers $1,000 if they complete ICIC’s small business educational programs The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City and Forward Financing, a Boston-based financial technology (fintech) company, have formed a new partnership to further expand the financial opportunity Forward Financing offers their customers, including tuition-free business education programs. As ... Read More

March is Women’s History Month, a time to commemorate and encourage the study, observance, and celebration of the achievements of women throughout history. These achievements span disciplines; they are social, cultural, political, and of course, economic. Read More

Ivy Lawson, founder and CEO of Ivyees ‘Everything Honey’, is the first person of color to open a business in Boston’s historic North End neighborhood. Considered a pioneer by many, Ivy sees herself simply as a woman who “followed a sign” to create her business selling raw honey-based products. Read More

It is critical that ESOs have access to the right tools and best practices to collect data and report on the unique impact of their organization. ICIC's evaluation of Small Business Forward ESOs begins to fill a critical gap in measuring what effective business incubation looks like in the U.S. Read More

Written by Ted Archer, JPMorgan Chase and Kim Zeuli, ICIC As part of its Small Business Forward initiative, JPMorgan Chase supports women, minority and veteran-owned small businesses by investing in a dynamic cohort of entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs). In its first four years, Small Business Forward has partnered with 19 ESOs ... Read More