We are excited to announce that on September 18, BCNA was awarded an award of $1,020,000 for Fiscal Year 2019, by the US Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund.
 
This year the CDFI Fund awarded a total of $202.2
million in awards to 302 CDFIs in order to focus increased lending and investment activity on low-income and economically distressed communities across the nation.
BCNA was one of only 14 CDFIs that received $1 MM plus in funds and we received the highest amount awarded to an NYC-based CDFI that supports micro and small businesses. This is the second year in a row we have been awarded such a significant amount, for which we are particularly grateful, given the increased competition this year.  
As the result of last year's award, one third of the $3 million in loans BCNA made in FY 2018, came from last year's CDFI award funds. We used those funds to help businesses like Flowers Flores, a wholesale flower business that is owned and operated by the Jose Andrade and Elisabeth Segura and their two sons; Cassandra Beauty Inc., a hair braiding saloon that is owned and operated by Esther Varney; and Momo Cave, in Queens, a restaurant owned by Mingma Sherpa, that makes six different flavors of Himalayan dumplings.
 
This year's equally generous award will allow BCNA to meet our goals for FY 2019, which include extending $4 million in loans to low-to-moderate income immigrant, refugee, and female business owners in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, and to all qualifying New Yorkers in Queens and Staten Island.
We are very grateful for this generous support and will continue to work to make New York a city of opportunity for immigrants, refugees, and any New Yorker with a small-business dream.
Yanki Tshering,
Excecutive Director 
The 2018 Vendy Awards

Fourteen years ago, our strategic partners at the Street Vendor Project had a terrific idea, one that's now become an annual must-go - must taste - event for food lovers and policy makers alike.  This year's Vendy Cup winner was Royal Halal Grill, a "mom and pop" team from Bangladesh.  Click to read more about the Vendy's and click here to read more about the excellent work The Street Vendor Project is doing to support many of New York's hardest working - and most talented - food entrepreneurs: our food trucks and street vendors!
 
 
New York Does the Right Thing

We wholeheartedly applaud Mayor DeBlasio, Speaker Cory Johnson, and members of the New York City Council who heard the pain and frustration of the members of  the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) and other New York drivers and passed a bill this summer that will not only put a cap on ride-hail service vehicles, such as Lyft and Uber, but will also set a pay standard for their disastrously underpaid drivers. Click to read more:  
 
 

Growing Our Staff Means More Success!  
 
There are many ways we measure success at BCNA. The most important way is the number of New Yorkers we've successfully helped as they've started - or built - a business, bought a home, built credit, or saved for college. But another important way is how we've grown as an organization and added capacity and expertise through growing our staff, so we are very pleased to announce that we have added 3 very talented new people to our growing BCNA team! Click here to meet Ervin, Nicole, and Robert:



BCNA Voices, Inspirational BCNA Speakers

BCNA Voices is an exciting roster of engaging speakers: women entrepreneurs who can share their stories to inspire members of their own communities or to help influence policies that promote entrepreneurship. For more information, click here.

Workshops 
 
To see all our upcoming workshops on Small Business Success, Home Ownership programs, and using Social Media to promote your business click here. 
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