Water Council Receives Second-Year Funding From JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has awarded The Water Council a $230,000 grant. The Water Council is now in its second year of funding under JPMorgan Chase’s Small Business Forward initiative—a national, five-year, $30 million grant program meant to boost small business support networks that help growing enterprises in specific industries. The organizations forged their partnership in the fall of 2014 to bring together North America's investment community and water technology entrepreneurs to match capital with water innovation.

With the grant, The Water Council will expand its efforts to connect water technology companies with investment capital through specialized training for angel investors, programming to connect corporation innovation departments with startups, and will introduce the first Water Venture Investment Conference at the Water Environment Federation’s Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference in Chicago.

“The importance of freshwater in the United States and across the globe is growing exponentially. At Chase, we believe that the small businesses that are being supported by The Water Council, may be the ones to find solutions to our freshwater challenges,” said James R. Popp, president of Chase in Wisconsin. “We are extremely pleased to announce a 2nd year of funding for The Water Council to help them support these businesses.”

“Southeast Wisconsin has found its economic niche in water technology and The Water Council is at the forefront of bringing that vision to fruition,” said Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. “Through the contributions of private sector companies such as JPMorgan Chase, combined with investments from Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., The Water Council has proven to be an excellent example of the accomplishments possible through public/private partnerships."

The partnership will help enable water technology companies to strengthen and grow their businesses in the heart of the most densely populated water technology cluster in the U.S., and to advance The Water Council's vision of being the globally connected epicenter of freshwater research, innovation, education and business development.

“The Water Council and its programs to develop water technology businesses have become a success story for the city of Milwaukee, and the work on the World Water Hub has been truly impressive,” said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. “The continued investment of a global company like JPMorgan Chase speaks volumes about how Milwaukee and The Water Council have jointly grown our freshwater economy.”

Source: The Water Council