Small businesses get assist from former Lakers superstar
Posted On: May. 18, 2020 2:30 PM CST
Score for Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
The former Los Angeles Lakers player, concerned that minority-owned businesses are being overlooked in applying for loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, said his life insurance company EquiTrust Life Insurance Co. will shoot over $100 million in capital to fund loans.
EquiTrust, which is majority-owned by Mr. Johnson’s Magic Johnson Enterprises, will partner with MBE Capital Partners, a lender that specializes in financing minority- and women-owned companies, to offer Paycheck Protection Program loans, according to a report in Sunday’s Wall Street Journal.
“What we’re launching here now is so important because we’re going to save a lot of small, minority businesses because they can’t just walk into the bank and get that loan,” Mr. Johnson told the newspaper.