SALT LAKE CITY — Suazo Business Center (Suazo), a Utah-based nonprofit business development organization dedicated to expanding access to business ownership, capital and financial education has been awarded a $600,000 grant from the KeyBank Foundation. The grant, the largest the KeyBank Foundation has awarded in the State of Utah, will support the development of a hybrid entrepreneurship program that combines self-paced learning with live instruction, helping remove barriers related to language, scheduling, transportation, and geography for economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs.
“Suazo Business Center is empowering Utah entrepreneurs with the skills and confidence to build sustainable careers and businesses, said Drew Yergensen, KeyBank Utah market president. “This initiative aligns with KeyBank’s Neighbors, Education and Workforce priorities by expanding access to education and supporting job creation.”
“We appreciate the work Suazo does to help our local entrepreneurs succeed financially,” said Brianna Hein, KeyBank’s corporate responsibility officer for Utah. “We are proud to support this impactful, barrier-removing program that strengthens our community.”
Over time, this funding will expand the number of participants served, supporting both new and existing entrepreneurs. It will also enable virtual bilingual cohorts with one-on-one advising, helping create and retain jobs while strengthening household stability.
Suazo’s President and CEO, Silvia Castro Bennett, added, “For nearly 25 years, our mission has always been to provide individuals and entrepreneurs across Utah with pathways to build generational wealth. We do that by expanding access to business ownership, capital and financial education. This award from KeyBank will allow us to expand our services into a framework that will help our clients to thrive for many years to come.”
About Suazo Business Center
Suazo Business Center is Utah’s most culturally responsive business development center, focused on economic empowerment through entrepreneurship. It works to end cycles of poverty, eliminate generational wealth gaps, and build self-reliance. The Suazo Business Center is one of only a handful of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) in Utah and has served the community since 2002, assisting in educating, growing, and developing over 11,000 clients and small businesses. The center has created more than 7,000 new small businesses and helped generate billions of dollars in revenue as an investment into Utah’s local economies. For more information, please call (801) 521-1709 or visit suazocenter.org.
About KeyCorp
KeyCorp’s roots trace back more than 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $189 billion at March 31, 2026. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 950 branches and approximately 1,100 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank Member FDIC.