BOSTON, Sept. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkshire
Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BHLB), the parent company of Berkshire
Bank, a socially responsible community-dedicated bank with branch
locations in New England and New
York, announced that the Bank will lend and invest
$5 billion over the next three years
to help strengthen local communities.
Berkshire's appropriately named
"BEST Community Comeback" is a multi-year plan that will focus on
strengthening communities in four key areas: fueling small
businesses, community financing and philanthropy, financial access
and empowerment, and funding environmental sustainability.
Additionally, 2021 marks Berkshire
Bank's 175th year as a financial institution that was started by
and for the American worker. In May, Berkshire Bank announced its
BEST (Berkshire's Exciting
Strategic Transformation) plan to improve the customer experience,
deliver profitable growth, enhance stakeholder value and further
strengthen its community impact. The BEST Community Comeback
integrates with the Company's overall transformation plan
highlighting the power of the Bank to effect real and positive
change in communities.
"We believe that building stronger communities requires a better
approach to banking," said Nitin J.
Mhatre, CEO of Berkshire Bank. "Our vision is to be the
leading socially responsible community bank in the New England and
Eastern New York region. Our BEST
Community Comeback highlights our purpose, delivers on our vision
and will empower our communities to realize their full
potential."
Berkshire Bank's $5 billion
lending and investment commitment will be distributed through
strategic, focused investments and programs across the following
initiatives:
- Fueling small businesses:
-
- $1.5B in small business
lending
- Targeted programming including financial coaching and technical
assistance
- Community financing and philanthropy:
-
- $2.5B in mortgage lending
- $15MM in community contributions
- $3MM equivalent in employee volunteer time
- $50MM in socially responsible investments under
management
- Financial inclusion and access:
-
- $2.5B in lending in low &
moderate income neighborhoods
- $200MM in lending for minority mortgage borrowers
- 300,000 people impacted with financial wellness
programming
- 200,000 socially responsible customer bank accounts
- Environment:
-
- $300MM in lending for low-carbon projects
- 100 percent renewable electricity usage
- Reduction in Green House Gas (GHG) emissions
"We're thrilled to have worked closely with Berkshire Bank for
the past five years, providing hundreds of the region's diverse
small businesses with executive education, technical assistance,
coaching, and access to capital," said Steve Grossman, CEO of the Initiative for a
Competitive Inner City (ICIC). "Their unwavering commitment to
inclusive economic prosperity has helped create good-paying jobs
where they're needed most, promoting equitable outcomes, and
strengthening community resilience. This extraordinary investment
will have a transformational impact on our most under-resourced
communities in the months and years ahead."
As a kickoff to the Bank's "BEST Community Comeback," today all
Berkshire Bank branches will close at 12 noon for the Bank's annual
"Xtraordinary Day of Service." Berkshire Bank employees will be
deployed in a virtual setting, volunteering for causes that support
the small business ecosystem, equity and inclusion and basic
community needs.
"Xtraordinary Day is a way for our employees to bring our
purpose to life and illustrate our mission in a tangible way across
our footprint," said Mhatre. "Volunteering together strengthens
communities and underscores our partnership with the organizations
and people around us."
During Xtraordinary Day, Berkshire will partner with Common Impact to
host a virtual non-profit Pitch Competition where employee
volunteers will use their professional skills to help solve
challenges facing several non-profits, including the Rhode
Island Black Business Association and the National Conference for
Community and Justice.
"We recognize that support is needed in so many ways, even more
so now given the events of the last eighteen months," said Mhatre.
"At Berkshire Bank, we stand steadfast in our commitment to harness
the collective power of our entire company to help our communities
come back stronger than ever before. We'll see more businesses and
jobs being created. We'll see opportunities for more families to
achieve the dream of owning a home for the first time. We'll see
neighborhoods transformed and our communities become more
environmentally efficient and eco-friendly. All because
of the collective actions of Berkshire, our employees, customers,
shareholders and community partners."
Additional information on Berkshire's BEST Community Comeback can be
found at berkshirebank.com/comeback.
ABOUT BERKSHIRE HILLS
BANCORP
Berkshire Hills Bancorp is the parent of Berkshire
Bank, which is transforming what it means to bank its neighbors
socially, humanly, and digitally to empower the financial potential
of people, families, and businesses in its communities as it
pursues its vision of being the leading socially responsible
omni-channel community bank in the markets it serves. Berkshire
Bank provides business and consumer banking, mortgage, wealth
management, and investment services. Headquartered in Boston, Berkshire has approximately $11.7 billion in assets and operates 107 branch
offices in New England and New
York, and is a member of the Bloomberg Gender-Equality
Index. To learn more, call 800-773-5601 or follow us on Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This document contains
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. You can identify these
statements from the use of the words "may," "will," "should,"
"could," "would," "plan," "potential," "estimate," "project,"
"believe," "intend," "anticipate," "expect," "target" and similar
expressions. There are many factors that could cause actual results
to differ significantly from expectations described in the
forward-looking statements. For a discussion of such factors,
please see Berkshire's most recent
reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission and available on the SEC's website at
www.sec.gov. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, which reflect our expectations only as
of the date of this document. Berkshire does not undertake any obligation to
update forward-looking statements.
Media Contact:
Meredith
Fletcher
mfletcher@missionandcause.com
(404) 316-8330
Investor Relations Contacts:
Kevin Conn, SVP, Investor Relations &
Corporate Development
Email: KAConn@berkshirebank.com
Tel: (617) 641-9206
David Gonci, Capital Markets
Director
Email: dgonci@berkshirebank.com
Tel: (413) 281-1973
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SOURCE Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc.