Expand the San Francisco Business Resilience Loan Fund in order to provide low interest loans to new food businesses who are creating full time jobs and contributing to revitalizing downtown. - Main Street Launch will use $800,000 in CED funds to expand its San Francisco Business Resilience Loan Fund, an existing fund providing low-interest loans and technical assistance to local restaurants in San Francisco, California. These loans and technical assistance give food businesses the opportunity to launch in the downtown area, meet growing market demands, and contribute to the post-Covid downtown revitalization effort. The expanded Loan Fund will support 4-5 food businesses, including Rize Up Bakery, Ramen An, and La Victoria SF, which all operate in downtown census tracks with high poverty rates. The food businesses funded through the expanded Loan Fund will create high quality, full-time, full year jobs and will have access to benefits and wraparound support services to remove barriers to successful employment. More specially, MSL will partner with several local organizations to provide newly hired employees with financial education and banking services such as small business training, business counseling, and free financial coaching. MSL will also provide career services, including partnerships with a local culinary arts college for training and degree opportunities. This project will create 30 new jobs, 23 of which will be filled by individuals with low incomes.
