Release Date: March 10,2025
City of Akron to Enhance Services for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs by Connecting Them to Financial Counseling
Akron Selected by National Nonprofit Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund with Support from Principal® Foundation for Small Business Boost Initiative
Akron, Ohio, March 10, 2025 — The City of Akron, in association with the national Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund), announced today they were selected to participate in the Small Business Boost (SBB) Initiative. To support this work, Akron received a $90,000 grant to support new initiatives between small business support services and the Akron Financial Empowerment Center. Akron is one of seven municipalities selected to connect local, small business support services to the Financial Empowerment Center (FEC) initiative, operated by United Way of Summit and Medina, which offers professional one-on-one financial counseling as a free public service. Entrepreneurs and small business owners can visit www.akronohio.gov/FEC or call 2-1-1 to make a FEC financial counseling appointment.
While small business ownership is widely regarded as a pathway toward wealth building, many small business owners and entrepreneurs face personal finance barriers that impede their ability to start or grow a business. This initiative, supported generously by Principal® Foundation, a global nonprofit organization committed to helping people and communities where Principal Financial Group, Inc. operates build financially secure futures, will help local entrepreneurs and small business owners in Akron improve their personal finances, better positioning them to access capital and achieve their business goals.
"Our small businesses are the heart of our community," said Akron Mayor Shammas Malik. "We want to help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses as well as manage their own personal financial journeys. We saw success with the Small Business Boost pilot program and are looking forward to continuing that growth with support from the CFE Fund and Principal® Foundation. They are choosing to support Akron, so it is exciting to support them.”
“Small business ownership can be a powerful pathway to opportunity, helping entrepreneurs build financial stability and wealth for themselves, their families, and their communities – but for too many people, personal finances are an obstacle to a strong start,” said Jonathan Mintz, President and CEO of the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. “We’re thrilled to team with Mayor Malik and the Principal® Foundation on Small Business Boost, which will help entrepreneurs manage their personal finances and better access capital and generate wealth.”
“Small businesses are the mainstay of our nation’s economy, the pathway to financial security for millions of Americans, and the backbone of our communities,” said Jo Christine Miles, director, Principal® Foundation, and Community Relations. “Principal® Foundation supports organizations and programs that remove barriers and create opportunities for small business owners and entrepreneurs so they can grow their business and build financially secure futures. It’s why we continue to support the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund and its Small Business Boost initiative – a program that has had a positive impact on local small business owners and their communities.”
The CFE Fund first piloted Small Business Boost in five municipalities including Akron in March 2022-2023 with Principal® Foundation support. The pilot program explored how FEC counseling could help entrepreneurs stabilize and improve their personal finances as the foundation for building and growing a sustainable business. Based on learnings from Akron's participation in the pilot program, the city will help inform this next iteration of SBB, joining with other FEC partners to further explore the impact on both entrepreneurs and business support integrating financial counseling services with small business support programs. In addition to creating new initiatives between entrepreneurs, service providers, and small business support programs, this next chapter will include robust qualitative research into the small business client journey and the impact of personal finances on entrepreneurial success. The City of Akron has chosen to work with Progressive Alliance, North Hill CDC and The Well, specifically the Akron Food Works team, to focus on different neighborhoods across the city. This program is open to all small businesses city-wide. The Akron Financial Empowerment Center has already helped 3,557 residents increase savings by $3,449,790.
First piloted in New York City under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2008, FECs across the country have worked with over 180,000 clients, helping them reduce individual debt by over $293 million, and increasing their families’ savings by over $57 million. In addition, a CFE Fund evaluation showed that this program works even for residents with very low incomes and other complex financial challenges. There are currently 35 cities that have launched, or are working to launch, a local Financial Empowerment Center initiative.
At the Financial Empowerment Centers, professionally trained FEC counselors help consumers with low and moderate incomes manage their finances, pay down debt, increase savings, establish, and build credit, and access safe and affordable mainstream banking products. At the core of the FEC model is the integration of counseling into other social services – Small Business Boost is an example of one such targeted integration. Through the Small Business Boost initiative, Akron FEC counselors will support business owners and entrepreneurs in addressing personal financial challenges that present barriers to success in building wealth through business ownership. In addition, Akron FEC counselors will receive significant training on the relationship between personal finance and business growth, how to navigate entrepreneurial ecosystems, and how to drive business outcomes through improving personal finances.
About Principal Foundation
Principal Financial Group Foundation, Inc. (“Principal® Foundation”) is a duly recognized 501(c)(3) entity focused on providing philanthropic support to organizations that build financial security in the communities where Principal Financial Group, Inc. (“Principal”) operates. While Principal Foundation receives funding from Principal, Principal Foundation is a distinct, independent, charitable entity. Principal Foundation does not practice any form of investment advisory services and is not authorized to do so. 4197795-012025
About the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund)
The CFE Fund supports municipal efforts to improve the financial stability of households by leveraging opportunities unique to local government. By translating cutting-edge experience with large scale programs, research, and policy in cities of all sizes, the CFE Fund assists mayors and other local leaders to identify, develop, fund, implement, and research pilots and programs that help families build assets and make the most of their financial resources. The CFE Fund is currently working in almost 150 cities and counties representing 62 million people, and has disbursed over $69 million to city governments and their partners to support these efforts. For more information, please visit www.cfefund.org or follow us on Bluesky at @cfefund.bsky.social.