New Wells Fargo program is fueling businesses on the brink of expansion

Business Journals

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Yuta Katsuyama came to Chicago from Tokyo in 2018 to study at Illinois Tech's Institute of Design. When he arrived, he found foods like sushi and ramen throughout the city, but he couldn't find his favorite food from his homeland: rice balls called onigiri.
In 2020, Katsuyama invited Cristina Tarriba to join him on a five-week business prototype project for school. They cooked in a shared kitchen, took pre-orders and delivered onigiris in his Chevy Volt — dubbed the 'Onigiri Shuttle'— across the city.
After the project ended, the partners decided to become food entrepreneurs full-time and launched Onigiri Kororin inside food and beverage incubator The Hatchery.
By the end of 2024, the business had grown to where its grab-and-go products were sold in more than 60 stores across Chicago. To satisfy increasing demand, the partners needed to expand operations. That was going to require a significant capital investment — one the business could not afford on its own.
Instead, it found another way, through Wells Fargo's new $20 million Open for Business Growth program.
The program had awarded a $2.5 million grant to the Chicago-based nonprofit Allies for Community Business (A4CB), which co-owns The Hatchery with the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago (ICNC). A4CB provided Onigiri Kororin with $210,000 in revenue-based financing, which allowed the business to expand to a larger kitchen at ICNC's Make City incubator and increase staffing.
'Our new kitchen is three times bigger, and we can have eight team members working at the same time, more than doubling our staffing capacity,' Katsuyama said. 'We want to continue to grow by introducing other types of products and eventually expand to other states across the U.S. The loan was transformative to allow us to take the next step.'
Katsuyama's school-project-turned-business now has 25 employees.
Creative capital makes expansion more accessible
A4CB — which provides capital, coaching and connections for entrepreneurs — was the first grant recipient of the Wells Fargo Open for Business Growth program, which was created specifically to support small businesses on the brink of expansion. The challenge: Many of these businesses need more than a microloan but are not yet large enough for traditional financing, said Kimelyn Harris, Wells Fargo's head of small business philanthropy.
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'When small businesses don't get the capital they need, they remain stagnant,' she said. 'Flexible capital is what's needed most.'
The program gives nonprofit partners like A4CB the opportunity to develop products and services that empower small businesses looking to scale so more of them can achieve next-level growth.
With its Open for Business Growth grant, A4CB will focus on growing the construction industry around Chicago and helping retail and restaurant businesses like Onigiri Kororin that have fluctuating revenue flow. The organization is piloting a new revenue-based financing model — the same one provided to Onigiri Kororin — and expanding access to its partnership with HIRE360, a specialized construction loan program that offers advisory services and mentoring.
The Wells Fargo grant funding also supports free business coaching for A4CB's clients.
'We'll be able to expand our offerings to far more entrepreneurs because of Wells Fargo's support,' said Brad McConnell, CEO of A4CB, noting that this is 'creative capital' that doesn't dilute the entrepreneur's ownership. Flexible financing, he said, allows debt payments to better align with revenue as it fluctuates.
A4CB estimates clients supported by the grant will generate as many as 260 local jobs as they execute larger contracts and create new opportunities.
'Supporting entrepreneurship is hard, expensive and risky,' McConnell said. 'We're really good at what we do, but we can't take on those risks and expenses on our own. Wells Fargo cares about the same things we care about: investing in communities so there is wealth building. This collaboration allows us to invest in entrepreneurs who are ready to create jobs and wealth in the community.'
Building on a track record of small business support
The Open for Business Growth program builds on the success of Wells Fargo's $420 million Open for Business Fund, which collaborated with community organizations during the pandemic. According to grantees, the fund has benefited roughly 336,000 small businesses and has enabled them to keep or maintain 461,000 jobs nationwide. The impact the new program is generating in Chicago is just the beginning. In the coming year, it will expand to other markets across the U.S.
'This program supports the businesses that are ready to scale, hire additional staff, build capacity and deepen their community impact,' Harris said. 'This funding empowers nonprofits to develop innovative products, solutions and services to help these businesses grow sustainably. These businesses play a vital role in creating jobs and sustaining the vibrancy of local communities. Our mission is to strengthen their ability to thrive for the long term.'