J’s Sweet Treats

Finance Fund’s COVID-19 Recovery Loan Fund Supports Woman- and Black-Owned Small Business During Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented economic and health crisis not only for individuals, but also for small businesses across Ohio. For small bakeries such as Columbus-based J’s Sweet Treats in particular, the demand for celebratory cakes typically ordered by customers diminished immediately as gatherings such as weddings and birthday parties became unsafe.

With the support of Wells Fargo, Finance Fund created a COVID-19 Recovery Loan program, which consisted of low interest rates and other flexible terms, to quickly support small businesses and enable them to survive the pandemic.

J’s Sweet Treats has proudly been a family-run, woman- and Black-owned bakery since its founding in Columbus in 2016. As COVID-19 spread throughout the city and beyond, J’s Sweet Treats experienced a loss in revenue and had to reduce hours of service. Through the COVID-19 Recovery Loan program, Finance Fund loaned $112,189 to the bakery, which was used to cover company expenses despite diminished consumer demand.

“We are truly grateful for Finance Fund. The loan officer was incredible to work with and the process was straightforward. We will utilize these funds to grow our business, increase our workforce, and expand our product offerings,” said Juana Williams, Owner of J’s Sweet Treats.

The area poverty rate is surrounding the J’s Sweet Treats original location on the South Side of Columbus is 40.57%. Since Finance Fund provided COVID-19 Recovery Loan support to J’s Sweet Treats, the company has announced an upcoming expansion to a second location near the Polaris commercial area just north of
Columbus.

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