Our Mission

Imagine what life is like when you don’t know where your next paycheck is coming from — or if your current paycheck doesn’t pay the bills. With the widest income gap since the ’20s, and increasingly limited economic mobility, the U.S. urgently needs new businesses that offer good jobs and investments that support underserved communities.

Pacific Community Ventures is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community development financial institution (CDFI) that engages small businesses, impact investors, and policymakers to build an economy that works for everyone.

We do this by empowering small business owners with working capital, free advice and mentorship, and access to the networks they need to grow their companies. We also provide customized research and advisory services to impact investors and policymakers to measure and communicate the social outcomes of investments and increase their impact. Our programs strengthen local economies, create new quality jobs, and stimulate private and public investment in underserved communities.

Our History

In 1998, we saw venture capital firms doing something to drive startups to greater success: pairing entrepreneurs with not just capital, but expert business advising as well. Our founders Bud Colligan and Penelope Douglas connected the dots: small businesses are the engine of job creation in America, but more of them fail then should. Their innovation in founding PCV was to bring the tools that empowered tech companies to brick-and-mortar Main Street businesses around the country.

Since our start, Pacific Community Ventures has helped over 4,000 Mom-and-Pop small businesses grow and create tens of thousands of jobs in neighborhoods that need them most. We’ve paired equity investments and small business loans with extensive advice networks to help our companies create new jobs at ten-times the national rate.

Our Three Core Programs

Our Partners And Funders