Media Contact: Diana Pando – 312-880-1140
[email protected]

Thanks to an $80,000 grant from U.S. Bank, The Resurrection Project (TRP) will begin delivering small business development programs to help entrepreneurs, ranging from start-ups to established businesses in its largely-Latino Southwest Side Chicago target service area, access the capital necessary to grow, create jobs, and contribute to the fabric of communities. This grant will underwrite TRP’s ability to support up to 300 entrepreneurs with education and technical assistance to access the capital necessary to create or retain up to 250 jobs per year.
“A thriving startup scene can have a tremendous impact on the surrounding community – take what we’ve seen in the River North of Near West Side for example. Access to capital is a critical component, and often the primary obstacle, to getting this type of entrepreneurial culture off the ground. The Resurrection Project helps solve for that,” said Marsha Cruzan, Chicago market president for U.S. Bank.
For 25 years, TRP has been creating economic development across the city’s Southwest Side. For more than a decade, U.S. Bank and The Resurrection Project have been working together to develop affordable housing and provide financial education and counseling services to help low- and moderate- income families achieve and preserve home ownership. The collaboration has leveraged and preserved more than $28 million in community investment. Deepening this partnership with small business development support, the collaboration is poised to grow that community investment exponentially.
“We thank U.S. Bank for their commitment in helping create economic opportunities that produce long-term poverty reduction in the Chicago region,” said Raul Raymundo, CEO of TRP. “U.S. Bank’s commitment to help us build healthy communities through our entrepreneurship program will accelerate economic growth and job creation in Chicago’s Southwest Side communities.”
TRP’s Entrepreneurial Training Program provides small business education programming that includes: one-on-one counseling; coaching capacity for entrepreneurs to start or grow their businesses, and; aid in promoting the vitality of the community. The program will support a diverse group of Chicago entrepreneurs—especially those from our targeted neighborhoods of Pilsen, Little Village, Back of the Yards, and suburban Melrose Park.
About U.S. Bank
U.S. Bank employs nearly 2,500 people in Chicago. U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), with $403 billion in assets as of December 31, 2014, is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, the 5th largest commercial bank in the United States. The company operates 3,176 banking offices in 25 states and 5,022 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at www.usbank.com.
About The Resurrection Project
Since 1990, The Resurrection Project has revitalized predominantly low-income Latino communities on Chicago’s Southwest side through a variety of community development strategies. The organization started with $30,000 in seed capital collected from concerned neighbors and area churches. Since then, TRP has leveraged those $30,000 into $346 million in community investments and wealth preserved.
For more information about The Resurrection Project’s Entrepreneurship Training Program, call 312-763-3228 or E-mail [email protected]. Visit TRP’s website at www.resurrectionproject.org.

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