News

June 18,2010

East St. Louis office open house

Justine PETERSEN hosted an Open House at its East St. Louis location at the Emerson Park Metrolink Station. East St. Louis Mayor Alvin L. Parks was in attendance, pictured with justine PETERSEN COO, Sheri Flanigan-Vazquez and Micro-Loan Counselor, Michael Green.

June 13, 2010 - justine petersen in the wall street journal

How to Finance a Growing Business By Colleen DeBaise, Wall Street Journal

June 2010 - justine petersen green loan fund borrowers in the st. louis post-dispatch

Local social innovators invited to White House and lauded by Michelle Obama - June 9, 2010, By Deb Peterson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Big Muddy Adventures - June 1, 2010, By Dawn Majors, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

june 2010

St. Louis' Urban Mayberry: How Some Scrappy Business Owners are Rebuilding a Local Neighborhood with Collaborative Entrepreneurism By Jeremy Nulik, Small Business Monthly

May 24, 2010

Risk aversion erects barrier to area small businesses

By Tim Logan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

May 19, 2010 - Forest Park Golf Course

St. Louis Rotary Centennial Golf Tournament

Special Thanks to all who attended. Proceeds will be used to support the St. Louis Rotary Centennial Project at justine PETERSEN. View event pictures.

May 10, 2010

Access to Capital in the Minority Community - a panel discussion

In light of the recent FDIC finding that St. Louis minorities are under-banked, panelists shared approaches and remedies to the challenges facing minority entrepreneurs accessing business capital

Panelists

Clifton Berry -President, Berry Advisors, LLC
Eddie Davis -Director, Center For the Acceleration of African American Business
Karen Davis -Midwest Community Affairs Manager, Regions Bank
Jose Ruiz III -Branch Manager, PNC/National City

Facilitated by: Galen Gondolfi -Senior Loan Counselor, justinePETERSEN

View the Panel

PART 1: justine PETERSEN CEO, Robert Boyle, welcomes over 100 people in attendance and Senior Loan Counselor, Galen Gondolfi, introduces distinguished panelists.

PART 2: Panelist introduce themselves.

PART 3: Eddie Davis gives a historical prospective of access to capital challenges in the minority community of St. Louis, MO.

PART 4: Karen Davis, Regions Bank, discusses access to capital issues of women entrepreneurs and the value of nonprofit community partners in assisting minority businesses to broker loans with mainstream financial institutions.

PART 5: Clifton Berry describes the difficulties accessing home mortgages in an economic downturn and the need to balance prudent lending with capital access in minority communities.

PART 6: Clifton Berry continues discussion.

PART 7: Jose Ruiz, National City now a part of PNC Bank, discusses partnership with justine PETERSEN to provide checking accounts to unbanked.

PART 8: Eddie Davis, Center for Acceleration of African American Businesses, talks about next steps for increasing minority access to capital. He suggests capitalizing a community loan fund.

PART 9: Panel is opened for questions. Jose Ruiz, National City now a part of PNC Bank, responds to issue of financial education in public schools. Clifton Berry addresses federal financial reform. justine PETERSEN CEO, Robert Boyle, discusses the role of CDFIs in increasing access to capital in minority communities.

PART 10: justine PETERSEN CEO, Robert Boyle, discusses risk assessment, target market profile, and alternative loan funds. Clifton Berry defines Target Market. Karen Davis, Regions Bank, describes risk factors considered by banks.

PART 11: Panelists respond to a minority woman's concerns about accessing capital to start a cheesecake business. The importance of building good credit is discussed.

April 19, 2010