The Regions Foundation, a nonprofit initiative of Regions Bank that supports community investments, on Thursday announced a $25,000 grant for Invest Atlanta as the organization works to help small businesses impacted by the novel coronavirus.
 
As a driver of economic prosperity and equity in Atlanta, Invest Atlanta has been working to meet tremendous demand among the local business community in recent weeks. Invest Atlanta staff at all levels are working to connect entrepreneurs with resources to help keep their companies viable and positioned to sustain or resume services. The grant from the Regions Foundation will help support Invest Atlanta’s outreach.
 
“Through the leadership of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Invest Atlanta quickly established an emergency loan fund to provide working capital for businesses to cover payroll, rent and other immediate costs,” said Dr. Eloisa Klementich, President and CEO of Invest Atlanta. “The additional funding through Regions Foundation will extend this support and help us sustain more businesses as the economy begins to recover. We are very proud to work with the Regions Foundation and are grateful for the Foundation’s support of programs to help small businesses through these turbulent times.”
 
“Invest Atlanta has been working to provide an important lifeline while seeing incredible demand from local businesses,” added Bill Linginfelter, Atlanta Market Executive for Regions Bank. “This grant from the Regions Foundation will help support businesses in need of vital assistance during this challenging and uncertain time. We appreciate the work of many organizations that are focused on helping Atlanta navigate the challenges presented by COVID-19.”
 
In addition to the Invest Atlanta grant, the Regions Foundation recently announced a $25,000 grant for Atlanta-based ACE (Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs), a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution that specializes in small-business funding and business advisory services. A grant for United Way of Greater Atlanta was also issued. Further, the Foundation announced it will match donations by Regions Bank associates to various United Way organizations and Community Foundations responding to COVID-19 needs.
 
The Regions Foundation continues to identify organizations for financial support, and more grants will be issued in the coming weeks.
 
Also, Regions Bank has issued financial support to a variety of additional nonprofits, and the bank recently donated a series of advertisements to food banks as well. Through that donation, advertisements originally purchased by Regions to promote bank services were instead given to food banks to encourage viewers and readers to financially support food bank outreach during the crisis.