KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knoxville Chamber announced Thursday that small business owners could have a new way to find funding.
They said Pathway Lending, a nonprofit and a certified community development financial institution, worked with First Horizon, Pinnacle Financial Partners and Regions Bank to rebrand their existing loan fund. It is now known as the "865 Opportunity Fund."
There is around $6 million available in that fund, and the Knoxville Chamber said it will provide loans between $5,000 and $50,000 to eligible small businesses. They said the fund is meant to address a gap in the kinds of funding small business owners can access.
The 865 Opportunity Fund is also meant to help expand Knoxville's small business ecosystem. It will also focus on providing funding for minority-owned and woman-owned businesses in Anderson, Blount, Grainger, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Roane, Sevier and Union counties.
"It offers small businesses the opportunity to have growth. We come in at early-stage companies, we see an opportunity for them. We look, we take a long look forward and we help them grow their business," said Hank Helton, the Executive Vice President of Pathway Lending.
Pathway Lending also said they hired Aaron Owen as its new vice president of lending for the Knoxville region to help support the new loan fund and collaboration in the region. Small business owners interested in learning more about application requirements and funding opportunities can contact him at 865-321-3050, or by emailing him at aaron.owen@pathwaylending.org.
More information about the small business loan fund is also available online.