One Platform to Connect Small Businesses to Capital and Contracts

Franklin County Board of Commissioners 

Finding help as a small business owner in Franklin County means knowing where to look. There's the Small Business Development Center. The Minority Business Assistance Center. The Columbus Empowerment Corporation. The county's own purchasing portal. Dozens of other programs and resources, each with its own intake process. 

For many business owners, navigating all of that is the work before the actual work. 

Freedom Equity Inc. is building a different entry point. On May 5, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners approved a $1.55 million contract amendment with the organization to expand the Build Grow Go platform, a digital hub designed to connect small businesses to capital, technical assistance, and contract opportunities through a single assessment. 

The platform, powered by software called Cipher, starts with a 360-degree business assessment. Based on the results, it connects business owners directly to relevant resources and tracks their engagement, so multiple organizations can see where a business has been and what it still needs without requiring the owner to repeat the same intake at every provider. 

"We don't need more resources," said J. Averi Frost, Freedom Equity's president and CEO. "But we do need a tool to help navigate those resources a little bit better." 

Freedom Equity was incorporated in 2021 to serve as an alternative lender for predominantly Black-owned businesses in Central Ohio and Franklin County. Since receiving county support in 2024, the organization has deployed more than $972,000 in loans to 19 small businesses at interest rates under five percent. Roughly 63 percent of those businesses would not have qualified for traditional bank financing. The organization has also supported more than 200 businesses with technical assistance, retained 61 jobs, and helped create 18 new positions. Freedom Equity became a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) last year, which expands its access to capital and long-term sustainability. 

The Build Grow Go pilot is set to launch May 27 and is projected to onboard 1,000 small businesses, facilitating more than $5 million in capital and contracting opportunities. 

Note: Commissioner Boyce abstained from the vote on Resolution 279-26.