JPMorgan Chase is rolling out a fresh pitch for the American Dream, and San Francisco’s small businesses are among the first in line. Today, the bank launched the American Dream Initiative, a multi-year effort to expand economic opportunity by focusing on small businesses and local commercial corridors. The program blends expanded lending, technical assistance and neighborhood investments, and the bank says early activity is already underway in several cities. Local leaders and entrepreneurs could see new financing, coaching and storefront support as part of the push.
The firm says the initiative will scale support for 10 million small businesses, up from about seven million today, and intends to provide nearly $80 billion in small-business lending over the next…..