Spring in Full Swing: Mastercard and Bank of America Welcome Small Business Owners to Fenway Park

To show appreciation for small businesses, Mastercard and Bank of America hosted local Boston small business owners at Fenway Park on Saturday, April 1 for a Boston Red Sox-Baltimore Orioles game. Business owners in attendance also had the opportunity to gain insights from small business experts, meet former Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, a former small business owner himself, and take in the game along with members of the Mastercard and Bank of America teams.

Ahead of the game, Wakefield spoke to those in attendance about his experience as a small business owner and how he learned from the challenges and struggles of business ownership, particularly the responsibility of juggling all aspects of a business. Jeffrey Sotolongo, Small Business Regional Executive at Bank of America, spoke to participants about the bank’s focus on community, explaining how Bank of America recognizes and values the integral role of small business owners in their local economies. To round out the discussion, Amber Dawkins, Head of Financial Inclusion for Small Business at Mastercard, detailed the importance of supporting small businesses and how Mastercard prioritizes finding solutions for the challenges that many business owners face, such as access to capital.

After the discussion, guests experienced a fun day at the ballpark in a Fenway suite, where they watched the Red Sox defeat the Orioles in walk-off fashion to cap the day’s excitement. Small business owners in attendance were thrilled with the networking event and festivities throughout the jam-packed day.

Business owners in attendance took the opportunity to create and grow meaningful professional relationships with Bank of America, Mastercard and other business owners. The business owners enjoyed the discussion and event – especially appreciative of the “red carpet” treatment from Bank of America and Mastercard and the ability to network in a unique environment.

“As a small business banking with a huge bank, you don’t think anybody’s going to show you any love,” said Luke Behrends, founder of Words From The Woods. “This event and this red-carpet treatment proved that notion wrong. Thank you Bank of America and Mastercard for the fun and for the memories!”

To learn more about how we support our business owners, please visit
https://promotions.bankofamerica.com/smallbusiness/support

4/27/23