Eastern Bank Launches Equity Alliance for Business, Further Advancing Growth Opportunities for Underrepresented Business Owners
March 09 2023 - 11:30AM
Business Wire
Includes specialized and innovative credit solutions, and access
to insights, mentoring and networking resources
As part of its deep and long-standing commitment to drive
greater economic inclusion and mobility, Eastern Bank is announcing
today the launch of Equity Alliance for Business to further advance
the growth of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs.
Specifically for business owners who are women or people of color
and all their intersectionality, including the LGBTQIA+, veterans
and disabled communities, Equality Alliance for Business provides a
specialized credit offering designed to meet the needs of diverse
business owners. It also provides access to other banking and
community services as well as entrepreneurial insights and tools,
with input from leading business support organizations and
delivered by a team of diverse bankers.
Eastern Bank is the #1 SBA lender to the small business
community in Massachusetts and as a community bank, is deeply
committed to supporting small businesses and their role in ensuring
a thriving, local economy. The bank’s efforts to address racial
disparities and the wealth gap span small business and community
development lending, supporting the growth of business owners of
color, providing accessible banking services and expanding
public-private partnerships. To address the significant racial
wealth inequities reported in the 2015 Federal Reserve Bank of
Boston “The Color of Wealth in Boston” study, Eastern incubated the
award-winning Foundation for Business Equity to accelerate the
growth of businesses of color. Eastern is now combining its
leadership as a small business lender with its knowledge gained
from the Foundation for Business Equity to further dismantle the
status quo through Equity Alliance for Business.
“Eastern has a deep and long-held commitment to advancing equity
and opportunity for all, and Equity Alliance for Business is yet
another step in advancing our commitment to economic inclusion and
strengthening our communities,” said Quincy Miller, Vice Chair
& President of Eastern Bank. “We understand resources such as
specialized credit programs designed to address systemic
inequities, specially trained bankers, and financial tools and
community partnerships are game-changing in opening up much-needed
opportunities of support for entrepreneurs and business
owners.”
Equity Alliance for Business seeks to meet the needs of business
owners with 51% or greater ownership by women or people of color
and all their intersectionality, including the LGBTQIA+, veterans
and disabled communities, who may not qualify for access to capital
with traditional underwriting standards. The ecosystem offers:
- Local 1:1 Relationships: A team of Equity Alliance for
Business bankers serve as consultative relationship managers to
business owners and are grounded in the communities where
underserved businesses operate;
- Credit Solutions Including A Special Purpose Credit
Program: Specialized credit product and other solutions
designed to meet the needs of diverse business owners and address
systemic inequities inherent in standard credit products today;
term loans up to $250,000 are available;
- Supplementary Financial Products & Services:
Financial products beyond credit and lending solutions, such as
Monit™, a mobile-friendly financial assistant built for small
business owners, customized to help business owners maximize their
time and business operations;
- Access To Other Tools & Resources: Help beyond
financial products, with access to insights, network building and
community collaborations.
“We know it takes more than capital for small businesses to
thrive,” said Abby Nguyen-Burke, Senior Vice President and Team
Leader of Equity Alliance for Business. “That’s why in addition to
our existing Branch Managers and Business Bankers we’ve created a
dedicated Equity Alliance for Business team of change agents to
work with highly regarded community partners, many of whom helped
to inform this approach, who offer access to mentoring, networking
and other entrepreneurial insights and tools.”
Eastern is working with leading business support organizations
to offer access to business insights, networking and other
resources in the communities it serves, including Ascendus, Black
Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA), Interise, Massachusetts
LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and Mill Cities Community Investments
(MCCI).
Karla Morales, Owner and Founder of Bohio Clean and Co-Founder
of Your Home Detox, is the first business owner to secure a loan
through Equity Alliance for Business. She identifies as nonbinary,
and her business is a womxn- and Latinx-led, earth-friendly,
commercial and residential cleaning platform transforming the
cleaning industry to be a pathway to freedom and sustainable living
wages. She says, “Before applying to Equity Alliance for Business
to receive a loan, I had been looking at other financing solutions
and was consistently denied. With a very small percentage of all
capital going to small businesses like mine led by queer, BIPOC
womxn, getting assistance has been challenging. I am really
thankful to benefit from a solution trying to create more
opportunity for business owners like me.” Morales plans to use the
term loan she received for day-to-day business operations, such as
managing payroll, purchasing new cleaning equipment, and investing
in sales and marketing.
To learn more about Equity Alliance for Business, visit
https://www.easternbank.com/equityallianceforbusiness.
About Eastern Bank
Founded in 1818, Boston-based Eastern Bank has more than 120
locations serving communities in eastern Massachusetts, southern
and coastal New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. As of December 31,
2022, Eastern Bank had approximately $23 billion in total assets.
Eastern provides banking, investment and insurance products and
services for consumers and businesses of all sizes, including
through its Eastern Wealth Management division and its Eastern
Insurance Group LLC subsidiary. Eastern takes pride in its
outspoken advocacy and community support that includes $240 million
in charitable giving since 1994. An inclusive company, Eastern
employs approximately 2,100 deeply committed professionals who
value relationships with their customers, colleagues and
communities. Join us for good at www.easternbank.com and follow
Eastern on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Eastern
Bankshares, Inc. (Nasdaq Global Select Market: EBC) is the stock
holding company for Eastern Bank. For investor information, visit
investor.easternbank.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230309005602/en/
Media: Andrea Goodman Eastern Bank
a.goodman@easternbank.com 781-598-7847
Investors: Jill Belliveau Eastern Bankshares, Inc.
InvestorRelations@easternbank.com 781-598-7920
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