Wells Fargo will provide an additional $3.25 million in financial resources to residents, small businesses and nonprofit organizations in Butte County, CA, to address critical housing and economic challenges that remain after devastating wildfires spread across the county last year. Funding will include loan capital earmarked for infrastructure, staff, inventory, equipment and other assistance.

Wells Fargo’s donation will be distributed to the Butte Strong Fund held by the North Valley Community Foundation, which is working to meet needs in Chico, Paradise and other towns.

“The resilient spirit in these towns is inspiring, but we know that this optimism needs to be met with financial resources and community support,” said Tim Sloan, Wells Fargo CEO. “As a company with headquarters in California, we stand with the residents of Butte County. Wells Fargo wants to be part of the long-term recovery efforts to rebuild Paradise and beyond, as communities emerge even stronger than before.”

This commitment is in addition to the $2.8 million already contributed by Wells Fargo to wildfire disaster relief in the state in 2018. Since then, Wells Fargo has deployed its Mobile Response Unit to assist customers with disaster relief and insurance check processing and hosted a Community Day in Chico, California to honor community leaders and those providing direct and immediate relief efforts.
Wells Fargo volunteers also assembled care kits for first responders and wrote letters of support to those affected. Additional Wells Fargo volunteers are gathering with community leaders today to distribute meals for area residents.

The support from Wells Fargo, to be implemented in conjunction with the Butte Strong Fund, will focus on two urgent needs: housing and small business recovery. These needs have been identified in concert with community leaders, nonprofits and Butte Strong Fund administrators to meet the most pressing needs. The model of the Butte Strong Fund is to invest in nonprofit organizations and agencies directly providing services to people impacted by the Camp Fire.

A dedicated $1.25 million will go towards infusing working capital back into the community and to help businesses reopen. Wells Fargo will work with Butte County leaders on rebuilding through partnerships with organizations such as 3CORE, a local Community Development Financial Institution. In addition to loans, support will also include:

• Enhanced capacity to provide on-the-ground outreach to small businesses and get funds into the hands of small business owners more quickly.
• Recovery initiatives to help small business owners with short-term and mid-term capital to address unmet credit needs as they rebuild and retain local jobs.