Monthly Archives: May 2021

AUSTIN, TX - The City of Austin Economic Development Department announces the first phase of awards totaling $2.18 million in relief grants to 109 local businesses impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The funding was provided through the Austin Legacy Business Relief Grant, which is a $5 million program of the Save Austins Vital Economic Sectors (SAVES) Fund established by the Austin City Council via Resolution No. 20200103-012. As part of a partnership with the City of Austin, PeopleFund processed applications and distributed Phase 1: Emergency Funding grants. Additionally, BCL of Texas provided one-on-one business coaching and outreach support to strengthen the program.

Getting these recovery dollars into the hands of Austins legacy businesses ensures long-term survivability, explains Veronica Briseo, Austins Chief Economic Recovery Officer. These restaurants, bars, and creative spaces are important to Austins history and uniqueness. We want to make sure they continue to exist in our city long after the effects of the pandemic.

PeopleFund began accepting Phase 1: Emergency Funding applications on February 16, 2021 and distributed the first $20,000 grants in April. Grantees met with business coaches at BCL of Texas to assess their businesses and identify opportunities such as business trainings, financial assistance, and business goals and more. Each grant recipient is eligible to apply for Phase 2 of the Legacy Business Relief Grant, which offers enhanced grant funding of up to $140,000.

As additional awards are made and the program advances, the City of Austin will continue to provide updated metrics for economic impact through the online dashboard for the Austin Legacy Business Relief Grant. The online dashboard summary of Phase 1 data includes:

Phase One of the Legacy Business Relief Grant program allowed us to assist long-standing businesses in Austin with capital and technical assistance. notes Gustavo Lasala, President and CEO of PeopleFund. PeopleFund was proud to help by processing applications and coordinating award requirements with grantees. We are excited to continue building business resiliency and keeping the Austin small business culture bustling as we head into Phase Two of the program.

As noted, the Austin Legacy Business Relief Grant will distribute the full $5 million dollars allocated in two phases:

Phase 1: Emergency Funding

Phase 2: Enhanced Funding

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About the City of Austin Economic Development Department

The City of Austin Economic Development Department supports business growth, creative industries, and local communities. These programs build an equitable, sustainable economy to improve the lives of all Austin residents. To learn more about helpful resources, visit http://www.austintexas.gov/edd or like us on Facebook @AustinEconDev and follow @AustinEconDev on Twitter.

About PeopleFund

PeopleFund provides small business loans as well as business assistance and education to people with otherwise limited access to such resources. Since being founded in east Austin in 1994 as Austin Community Development Corporation, PeopleFunds financial and educational assistance has helped create thousands of jobs and empowered an even greater number of Texans on a path to financial stability and independence. PeopleFund is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and operates as a non-profit 501(c)(3) serving all of Texas.

About BCL of Texas

The mission of BCL of Texas is Building Strong Communities. BCL of Texas is a U.S. Treasury Certified Development Financial Institution (CDFI), a U.S. Small Business Administration Certified Development Corporation (CDC), and a HUD-certified housing counseling agency. BCL of Texas supports communities of color to acquire wealth-building assets such as homeownership and entrepreneurship, with the financial tools and education necessary to optimize positive economic returns. BCL of Texas serves low and moderate income individuals, families, and small business owners, with an emphasis on diversity and underserved communities.

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Local legacy businesses receive $2.18 million in first phase of emergency funding from the City of Austin - AustinTexas.gov

LONDON, May 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Celsius, the global industry-leading cryptocurrency yield-earning platform saw over 200% company-wide growth from January 1 through April 30, 2021. Building on an already record-breaking three years and approaching it's fourth year of business, Celsius is breaking the ceiling of the digital asset lending and borrowing industry across the globe.

By April 30th, Celsius' assets under management grew to more than $17 billion in digital assets, including over 100,000 Bitcoin and 1.3 million Ethereum. Additionally, Celsius now supports 45 different tokens and coins, some earning up to 17% in annual yield.

Today, Celsius is proud to serve more than 700,000 users, and is trending toward gaining 100,000 new users every month. Celsius' users worldwide are earning over $1,500,000 a day in yield paid out weekly, for a total value of over $688,000,000 in rewards paid from inception. 62% of Celsius users are choosing to receive their weekly rewards in CEL, allowing them to earn the highest possible yield offered by the platform.

Since January, Celsius' infrastructure expanded by over 200%, adding exceptional talent from the marketing, finance, and legal sectors. Celsius now has over 290 employees worldwide who are laser focused on bridging the gap between centralized and decentralized finance, with the goal of bringing the next 100 million people into crypto.

"Seeing this type of unprecedented growth makes me even more excited for the future of Celsius," said Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius. "We've put together a team that is hitting milestones every day in the effort to bridge CeFi and DeFi to continue to build the best product for the best community in the industry. In just a few short months, we've grown exponentially in every area and we're just getting started."

About CelsiusCelsius helps hundreds of thousands of consumers worldwide to find the path towards financial independence through a compounding yield service and instant low-cost loans accessible via a web and mobile app. Built on the belief that financial services should only do what is in the best interest of the customers and community, Celsius is a blockchain-based fee-free platform where membership provides access to curated financial services that are not available through traditional financial institutions. For additional information please visitwww.celsius.network.

Media Contact[emailprotected]

SOURCE Celsius Network

https://celsius.network

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Celsius by the numbers: Over $1 million a day in yield earned by Celsius customers - PRNewswire

Although African sovereign wealth funds have already shown their effectiveness, their potential remains largely untapped. By mobilizing and leveraging national savings, these funds not only can increase governments capacity to finance public policies, but also can help to attract much-needed foreign capital.

LIBREVILLE/ABUJA/DJIBOUTI On May 18, African heads of state, European leaders, and representatives of international institutions will gather in Paris for a summit on financing African economies. As heads of African sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), we strongly believe that mobilizing national resources and using them to attract additional foreign capital is the only way to ensure our economies financial independence.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the lingering vulnerabilities of African economies. They remain too sensitive to exchange-rate risk, unable to finance themselves, and too dependent on donors. In addition, adverse risk perceptions mean that most international investors and asset managers still have only a marginal presence on the continent.

But Africa urgently needs to attract international capital. After the continents pandemic-induced recession in 2020, the African Development Bank expects real GDP to grow by only 3.4% this year. This projected recovery will not generate the resources we need to meet our development needs.

Financing Africas development will require governments to think of new ways to secure international investments without increasing their debt and using the continents SWFs is one of the most credible options. As in many other countries around the world, these state-controlled institutions manage national surpluses with the aim of building wealth and providing a sound financial foundation on which governments can formulate ambitious development or diversification policies.

Over the last decade, 15 African countries including Morocco, Nigeria, Gabon, Rwanda, Senegal, and, more recently, Djibouti have established SWFs. According to a recent report by the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, these funds currently manage a total of $24 billion in assets. While this amount is not comparable to the size of other SWFs internationally, it is nonetheless significant in the context of African economies.

Our SWFs are proof that African countries also can be financially innovative. Countries such as Senegal, Rwanda, and Djibouti have understood that such funds are not only for commodity-rich economies. At the same time, oil producers such as Gabon and Nigeria are using their SWFs to diversify resource allocation and adapt to the evolving economic context. In each case, these funds base their strategies on rigorous management of national savings, modeled on best private-sector practices, in order to serve national development goals.

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But although African SWFs have already shown their effectiveness, their potential remains largely untapped. By mobilizing and leveraging national savings, SWFs not only can increase governments capacity to finance public policies, but also can help to attract more foreign capital. Above all, African SWFs can set an example by demonstrating governments commitment to their own economies: if we do not invest in our strategic infrastructure, industries, or social sectors, how can we expect others to come and do it for us?

We are convinced that our national savings can also be mobilized to integrate African economies into global capital flows. In recent years, African SWFs have demonstrated their capacity to implement innovative mechanisms such as public-private partnerships in the utilities, roads, ports, airports, telecoms-infrastructure, and health-care sectors. And they are agile enough to do much more, such as securitizing state assets or using leaseback arrangements to fund public entities. All we need is our governments willingness to make full use of their SWFs.

Besides showcasing investment opportunities, our institutions know how to implement projects complying with environmental, social, and governance norms that are aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Last year, for example, African SWFs made strong commitments in the health sector. FGIS, the Gabonese Strategic Investment Fund, took over the countrys National Pharmaceutical Office, while the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority forged a partnership with the US nongovernmental organization BIO Ventures for Global Health aimed at strengthening cancer research.

In this context, we are also calling for an institutional framework that encourages greater collaboration among African SWFs in order to pool our resources and projects. Such cooperation can further encourage African governments and international partners to use these funds to bolster the continents financial sovereignty. The Paris summit will help Africa, but, above all, we must help ourselves.

This commentary is co-signed by Gilbert Nyatanyi, Chief Executive Officer of the Agaciro Development Fund in Rwanda.

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Harnessing Africa's Sovereign Wealth by Akim Mohamed Daouda, Uche Orji and Mamadou Mbaye - Project Syndicate

Computershare Loan Services and The DPS have donated 40,000 to national charity Depaul UK.

Depaul UK offers financial literacy education as part of its employability programme Steps to Success, which equips young people with the skills and knowledge to secure and maintain meaningful employment, education or training.

The donation will fund financial literacy workshop programmes across the country, particularly for those aged 16 to 25 who are without a home or who are at risk of becoming homeless.

Computershare Loan Services donates 1,200 to childrens charity

The charity also offers one-to-one sessions to support young people to resolve debt, understand money matters, manage their benefits, and handle other financial difficulties.

The businesses have together provided just under 0.5m to charities in these respective fields since 2014.

The DPS and Computershare Loan Services Charity Fund is also set to make donations to local charities near the organisations Derry, North and West Yorkshire, Sunderland, Doxford and Bristol offices later this year.

Nicola Harwood, director of prevention and programmes at Depaul UK, said: This significant donation will enable us to extend our work with young people to help them escape or avoid homelessness, achieve financial independence and progress into long term education, training or sustainable employment.

Increasing financial literacy among young people is integral to young peoples independence, health and employability.

Computershares donation will also help support young people to develop the skills and confidence to undertake training for sustainable careers and move away from the dangers of homelessness, especially as they continue to feel the economic impact of the past year.

Andrew Jones, chief executive at Computershare Loan Services, added: Computershare Loan Services has a proud history of supporting organisations that help improve with financial education or alleviate poverty.

Were delighted this year to link up with our sister organisation, The DPS, and combine our efforts to provide significant support to a charity working to help young people, particularly in these challenging times.

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Computershare Loan Services and The DPS donate 40,000 to charity - Mortgage Introducer

When it comes to coffee grown in the United States, the first thing that comes to mind is Kona. Sure, theres a porkpie-wearing acoustic guitarist growing some in So Cal, and some folks in Florida are giving it a go as well, but the Hawaiian-grown coffee reigns supreme. Along with Jamaica Blue Mountain (and perhaps, ugh, kopi luwak), there may be nothing more synonymous with fancy coffee amongst the coffee-drinking masses than Kona. Sure, we coffee dweebs go gaga for Gesha and have Eugenioides envy, but ask your parents or grandparents what the best high-end coffee is and theyre probably going to tell you its Kona.

But what is Kona and how did it find its way to Hawaii? A new article in SF Gate takes a look at the history of the famed coffee on the Big Island, and surprise, its riddled with colonialism.

Before we get to the how, lets first break down the what. Kona is defined more provincially than genetically. Contrary to what most assume, Kona isnt a specific variety of coffee at all but refers more broadly to the Arabica species. But what makes Kona Kona, much like champagne and bourbon, is where it is grown. For a coffee to be considered Kona, it must be cultivated on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the North and South Kona Districts of the Big Island of Hawaii. Theoretically, there could be Typica Kona, Red Bourbon Kona, even Gesha Kona.

The first recorded coffee plant to find its way to Hawaii, per SF Gate, arrived in 1817 via Francisco de Paula Marn, a Spanish friend of King Kamehameha who acted as an informal adviser, who also introduced grapes and pineapples to the island. It wasnt until eight years later, when Chief Boki of Oahu imported plants from Brazil, that coffee cultivation took root in Hawaii. Around the same time, the Second Great Awakening, a Christian revival movement in America, was taking place, sending many missionaries to the islands. Per SF Gate, coffee was used as a tool to destabilize Hawaiian power structures:

Samuel Ruggles was one of those first missionaries, and when he was transferred from the Hilo Station to the Kona region, he brought some coffee trees with him. Ruggles had an agenda, of course: coffee cultivation would make the missions more financially viable while also weaning converted Hawaiians away from their traditional power structures. Merchants and missionaries persuaded chiefs to legalize private property in the 1830s, allowing them to begin buying up land and amassing economic power.

Over the next few decades, coffee-growing would be boom or bust. Coffee was a popular crop in the mid-1830s, when it could be easily sold to folks in California during the Gold Rush, but then declined significantly two decades later when sugar became more profitable.

Ironically, though, it was the sugar crops that kept coffee alive in Hawaii. Landowners would bring over Japanese and Filipino laborers to work their sugar plantations; the work was grueling and in brutal conditions, so once the laborers contracts expired, they switched crops, to coffee. They would then lease a 5-to-10-acre plot of land where they would grow coffee, allowing them some financial independence and the ability to put down roots.

It wasnt until the 1980s that Kona became known as a high-end coffee. Per the Kona Historical Societys Kuulani Auld, the farmers made the push to brand their coffees as Kona and distinguish it as a gourmet product to be sought-after. That impression remains today, with 100% Kona coffee fetching upwards of $50 per bag, on a par with Gesha and other rare coffee varieties. More than just a marketing strategy, though, modern Kona runs the gamut of quality, from commodity all the way up to specialty grade.

Unlike most other coffees, Kona has its own specified grading and designation system. Per Kona Coffee Farmers, Kona is broken down into Type I or Type II, containing two seeds per cherry or one (also known as a peaberry), respectively. From there they receive a quality grade, with the rating for Type I going from high to low: Extra Fancy, Fancy, Number 1, Select, and Prime. Type II has a similar system but does not include Extra Fancy or Fancy.

From there, the coffee can be sold as either 100% Kona or as a Kona Blend, which Hawaiian regulations require at least 10% of the coffee to meet the Kona criteria. The Kona Blend is a point of contention for many growers in Hawaii. The Kona Coffee Farmers Association website states bluntly, If youre looking for real Kona coffee this is a label to avoid!!!

Modern day Kona, along with other Hawaiian-grown coffees, is facing additional challenges from pests and disease. The coffee borer beetle, which destroys crops by laying its eggs inside ripe coffee cherries, has been found in Kona going back to 2010, with the problem spreading to coffee farms across Hawaii. Additionally, coffee leaf rust has also been found in Kona, where the climate makes it particularly susceptible to the fungus.

To learn more, visit Hawaii Coffee Association,Pacific Coffee Research,andKona Coffee Cultural Festival. Listen to the Sprudge Podcast Networks A Better Table episode featuringMadeleine Longoria Garcia,a co-owner ofPacific Coffee Research.

Zac Cadwaladeris the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas.Read more Zac Cadwaladeron Sprudge.

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What Is Kona Coffee And How Did It Come To Hawaii? - Sprudge