Huntington receives Joe Belew Award for Lift Local Business
program supporting historically underserved
communities
COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 28,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Huntington National Bank and
its Lift Local Business program have been nationally recognized by
the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) with the 2024 Joe Belew
Award. The award honors CBA member banks for their efforts to
address pressing social and community issues, with this year's
focus recognizing impactful programs that seek to improve workforce
development and educational opportunities.
Huntington's Lift Local Business program supports minority-,
woman-, and veteran-owned small businesses throughout the business
life cycle, from start-up to expansion. In addition to direct
lending, the program offers business planning support, free
financial education courses through Operation HOPE, and other
services to help small business owners take charge of their careers
and create long-term wealth for themselves and their families.
"Small businesses are the backbones of our communities and local
economies. At Huntington, we recognize that some small businesses
face more challenges when it comes to receiving funding," said
Brant Standridge, Huntington's
Consumer and Regional Banking President. "We created Lift Local
Business to help address these socioeconomic barriers, and we're
honored to be recognized as the 2024 Joe Belew Award winner."
Lift Local Business is a key component of Huntington's
$40 billion Strategic Community Plan,
which is focused on driving economic inclusion through access to
capital, affordable housing and home ownership, and community
lending and investment. Since Huntington launched the program in
2020, the bank has provided funding to more than 1,450 small
businesses, totaling $101 million in
loans.
"Huntington is proud of the number of small businesses we've
supported through Lift Local Business. We're committed to investing
in our small business lending program, so we can help more small
businesses start, grow, and prosper, and help the communities
throughout our footprint become the best they can be,"
said Maggie Ference, Huntington's Small Business and Small
Business Administration Director.
"Small businesses play an integral role in our economy, from
supporting communities to employing and serving local residents,"
said CBA President and CEO Lindsey
Johnson. "That's why I'm so pleased that Huntington Bank
received this year's Joe Belew Award
for its Lift Local Business program that supports minority-,
woman-, and veteran-owned small businesses."
The Joe Belew Award was
established to honor former CBA President, Joe Belew, for his commitment to community
development. The focus of the award changes annually, with this
year's award presented to the CBA member-bank applicant with the
most responsive and impactful program seeking to improve workforce
development and educational opportunities. The award winner was
selected by volunteers from CBA's membership.
As the 2024 Joe Belew Award winner, Huntington has selected the
1 Million Black Businesses initiative, which is powered by
Operation HOPE and provides the black community a successful path
to wealth creation through sustainable and profitable business
ownership, as its nonprofit of choice to receive a donation from
the CBA.
For more information about Huntington's Lift Local Business
program, visit
https://www.huntington.com/SmallBusiness/loans/lift-local. To learn
more about the Joe Belew Award,
visit
https://www.consumerbankers.com/cba-media-center/media-releases/cba-announces-award-recipients-cba-live-2024.
About Huntington
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (Nasdaq: HBAN) is a
$189 billion asset regional bank
holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1866, The
Huntington National Bank and its affiliates provide consumers,
small and middle–market businesses, corporations, municipalities,
and other organizations with a comprehensive suite of banking,
payments, wealth management, and risk management products and
services. Huntington operates approximately 1,000 branches in 11
states, with certain businesses operating in extended geographies.
Visit https://www.huntington.com/ for more information.
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SOURCE Huntington National Bank