Accompany Capital: a New Name and New Brand for BCNA
This month, we announced some really big news – a new name – Accompany Capital, a new logo, and a brand-new website – a decision and a process that had been over a year in the making.
It wasn’t a decision we came to lightly. We had worked hard for over 20 years to build “Business Center for New Americans” into a trusted name here in New York City, and a respected name in Albany and nationally. That name also reflected our core mission: supporting immigrants and refugees as they build new lives and businesses as new Americans.
A name change is considered one of the top five most feared changes in the non-profit and corporate world. If done well, however, it can have tremendous rewards. Google speaks much more to the scope of its mission than its original name – “Backrub” – did, for instance. Pepsi probably couldn’t have marketed itself as the drink of a generation if it was still called “Brad’s Drink.” Closer to home, we saw the power of thoughtful rebranding in our own non-profit sector when the National Federation of Credit Union rebranded as Inclusiv last year.
Why did we choose now to rename and rebrand as Accompany Capital?
The short answer is that our organization, offerings, and expert staff have grown and expanded over the years. “Accompany Capital” better reflects our enlarged scope and commitment to providing not only access to affordable capital but also to supporting the journeys of immigrant and refugee entrepreneurs as they launch and grow new businesses and establish their lives as New Yorkers. In fact, as several new Board Members joined us recently, they expressed surprise as they “peered under the hood” to see the full impact of our services. They felt that we were doing ourselves a disservice by not communicating more effectively about the full scope and dramatic impact of our services.
It was through Inclusiv! that we connected with Brenda Smith + Associates – the consultants we ultimately selected as our own brand transformation gurus. Brenda and her incredibly talented team made what could have been a very anxious process clear, creative, and rewarding for our own internal marketing and rebranding team, even in the midst of incredible external stresses created by the pandemic and election-year uncertainty.
Our strength is in our team and the dedicated – ongoing – support they bring to their clients’ journeys. We all feel that the word Accompany captures that human commitment while Capital reflects both the financial means we make available as well as the “human capital” we help nurture: new New Yorkers who bring so much to our economy and our communities.
While our name has changed, our mission has not.
We are still 100% focused on clients, on providing small and micro business owners in New York City with low-cost small business loans, access to business training and technical assistance, and one-on-one counseling in the languages our staff members speak.
If you have questions, please let us know. And if you want to partner with us to make sure that New York micro and small businesses have the support they need to reopen or stay in business during this continuing crisis, please reach out to our team.
And please make sure you’re following our news on our renamed Accompany Capital social sites as well: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.