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From the left, Ronald Lockett,
Executive Director of the Northwest
Activity Center points to lobby
upgrades financed by Fifth Third
Bank as President and CEO Greg
Carmichael and Senior Vice President
Byna Elliott, look on. (Photo by HB
Meeks/Tell Us USA News Network) |
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Fifth
Third
Bancorp
invests
$30B to
stimulate
community
development
By Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT
(Tell Us
Det) -
Fifth
Third
Bancorp
is
spurring
community
development
in
Michigan
and nine
other
states
with a
major
$30
billion
commitment
to
invest
in the
areas
they
serve,
including
Detroit.
In
collaboration
with the
National
Community
Reinvestment
Coalition
(NCRC),
the
investment
will
serve
low- and
moderate-income
communities
through
2020 and
builds
on the
$27.5
billion
community
commitment
Fifth
Third
announced
earlier
this
year.
“Banks
are a
community’s
best
hope”
says
NCRC
partner
executive
John
Taylor.
The
President
and CEO
of Fifth
Third
Bancorp,
Greg
Carmichael,
visited
Detroit
recently,
paying a
visit to
the
Northwest
Activity
Center
where
the firm
has
established
a
multi-service
banking
center
and
financed
over one
million
dollars
in
facility
upgrades.
Detroit
is one
of
fifteen
large
metropolitan
areas
that are
regional
headquarters
for the
bank.
Fifth
Third
Bank
President
and CEO
Greg
Carmichael
discusses
the
community
development
plan to
invest
in
mortgage
and
small
business
lending
In a
one-on-one
interview
with
Tell Us
Detroit
at the
Northwest
Activities
Center.
He said
“Fifth
Third
bankers
should
keep the
customer
at the
center
of
everything
we do.”
(Photo
by HB
Meeks/Tell
Us USA
News
Network)
Tell Us
Detroit
accompanied
Carmichael
on his
tour of
the
Center
before
sitting
down
with the
CEO to
discuss
the $30
billion
investment,
of which
approximately
$650
million
is for
the
Detroit
market
to
stimulate
residential
housing,
community
development,
small
business
lending,
down
payment
assistance,
and
philanthropic
giving.
Meaningful
investment
in
community
development
said
Carmichael
is the
job of
all
financial
institutions
especially
banks;
his
mission
is “To
help
educate
our
consumers
so they
can make
better
decisions
and to
share
the
opportunities
they
have
with
respect
to
credit,
savings
and how
to plan
for the
future.”
Carmichael
is no
stranger
to
Detroit,
he has
visited
the city
annually
for over
a decade
and when
he began
his
tenure
as CEO
of Fifth
Third
Bancorp
in 2015,
it was
with a
day
spent in
Detroit.
Returning
this
year
following
the
announcement
of the
$30
billion
plan,
the CEO,
said he
is
encouraged
by the
revitalization
of the
city and
bank’s
investment
in the
Northwest
Activity
Center.
“Look at
the
community
that
surrounds
this
Center,
it’s
been an
amazing
transformation,
just to
see the
facilities
and how
people
are
using
the
facility
to
better
their
lives
whether
it be
the
computer
lab or
the
basketball
court or
the
theater
, it’s
great”
said
Carmichael.
Looking
on to
the new
gym
floor
financed
by the
Fifth
Third
Bank,
the
Executive
Director
of the
Northwest
Activates
Center
tells
bank CEO
Carmichael
that the
basketball
court is
used by
local
colleges
and is
where
former
Piston
star and
Mayor
Dave
Bing
used
practice.
(Photo
by HB
Meeks/Tell
Us USA
News
Network)
Northwest
Activity
Center
Director
Ronald
R.
Lockett
said the
bank has
invested
$1.5
million
in the
facility
over the
last two
and half
years
for a
new
lobby
and a
new gym
floor
for the
basketball
court on
which
former
Mayor
Dave
Bing
once
played
and a
ballroom
that is
a major
revenue
generator.
Today
the
Fifth
Third
Bancorp’s
presence
at the
Center
is most
evident
in the
financial
programs
offered,
the ATMs
and the
branch
office
inside
the
Center
that
opened
in
August
of 2014.
The
President
and CEO
of Fifth
Third
Bank is
greeted
by staff
and
guests
during
his
visit to
the
Northwest
Activity
Center
in
Detroit.
(Photo
by HB
Meeks/Tell
Us USA
News
Network)
“We have
become a
hub of
financial
literacy
and
banking
services”
says
Center
Director
Lockett,
people
come by
for home
improvement
loans,
student
loans,
help
with
their
credit
scores
or
finance
education
courses.
Operation
Hope is
a
nonprofit
is
dedicated
to
driving
financial
empowerment
through
one-on-one
counseling,
delivering
workshops
on money
management
and
helping
residents
to build
credit
worthy
profiles.
Since
2003
Fifth
Third
Bank has
located
6
branches
throughout
Detroit
neighborhoods
that
were
underbanked.
While in
Detroit
Carmichael
also
visited
Southwest
Solutions
where
the bank
has
invested
in
getting
veterans
engaged
and back
into the
workforce.
Fifth
Third
Bank
also
invests
in
employment
services
for its
customers.
Carmichael
said
their
NextJob
program
helps
its bank
customers
who
don’t
have a
job find
work.
“People
want to
work
there is
no
better
place to
put our
resources
than
getting
them
back on
their
feet and
be
financially
successful.
”
When it
comes to
investing
in
philanthropic
giving,
the CEO
says
it’s all
better
quality
of life,
from
helping
young
people
with
clothing
and food
to
supporting
the
veterans
who are
homeless.
Giving
to
cultural
institutions
and the
arts is
a good
investment
said
Carmichael
is about
making
the
community
stronger.
Employees
of the
bank are
part of
the
giving
philosophy
of their
CEO.
Last
year
they
donated
over
100,000
hours of
volunteer
community
service.
“We
believe
it’s
important
for a
bank to
give to
the
communities
and
support
the
communities
in order
to build
great
organizations.,
it’s the
biggest
reward
from a
personal
perspective
and a
business
perspective.”
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