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Women-owned biz funded
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June 5, 2000: 5:26 p.m. ET
FleetBoston commits $2B in financing to support female-owned firms
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - FleetBoston Financial announced a $2 billion commitment Monday to finance women-owned businesses.
The program, billed as a "financing and investment initiative," is planned to operate over five years, the company said.
While the largest part of the effort will involve conventional bank lending to female entrepreneurs, the Boston-based company will also provide access to equity funding, both from its internal resources as well as connections to outside financing sources, an executive said.
"Our vision is to connect women to as many resources as possible, whether at Fleet or not, because that is the beginning of a relationship," said Teresa Cavanagh.
FleetBoston Financial (FBF: Research, Estimates) set the announcement to promote the New York introduction of its "Women Entrepreneurs' Connection." This program, established in 1998 by Cavanagh at BankBoston, operated previously in the New England area and now is being introduced to a broader Northeastern market as the result of the merger of the two regional banks.
In the Northeast and nationwide
The merger gives the bank an operating footprint from Maine to New Jersey, and "that is where we expect to do most of our lending," she said. But the services will be available nationwide via the company's Web site and through operating units such as its Robertson Stephens investment banking unit.
 The company also announced it would provide $60,000 to support a study being conducted by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners that is designed to study high-growth, "gazelle" companies, especially those that are owned by women.
Results of the study are expected early next year. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Edward Lowe Foundation also are supporting the research.
And the company pledged $250,000 to Independent Means, a company that teaches members of generation Y -- girls and young women ages 13 to 21 -- how to achieve financial independence.
At the end of 1999, there were some 9.1 million women-owned businesses in the United States, representing $3.6 trillion in sales and 27.5 million employees, the company said. 
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