Maricopa colleges join pilot to fund student businesses

Maricopa Community Colleges is participating in a pilot program offering grants and interest-free loans to help student entrepreneurs start businesses.

The Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund will offer loans of up to $10,000 through Kiva. The program focuses on aspiring business owners with low or middle incomes, according to a district news release.

Thirteen colleges are participating in the pilot, including several in the Maricopa system. A $225,000 Wells Fargo grant will be matched with other donor funds to build the funding platform.

Maricopa Community Colleges, Wells Fargo and the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship announced the program Nov. 9 at Phoenix Forge, a makerspace operated by GateWay Community College.

“For students who have ambitions of launching their own business that creates local jobs in our communities and contributes to our economy, too often, what they lack is access to capital,” Maricopa Community Colleges Chancellor Steven Bloomberg stated.

For more information, visit maricopa.edu.