Knoxville Chamber announces the ‘865 Opportunity Fund’ providing loans to small businesses

The "865 Opportunity Fund" was originally a loan fund from Pathway Learning. They worked with several banks to create the new small business fund. 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 […]

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