The Boston-based nonprofit organization founded by Eastern Bank to support small business owners of color has merged with Mill Cities Community Investments, a Lawrence-based community development financial institution.
Since George Floyd’s death, many banks have leapt forward with billions in pledges to communities of color. Those actions should be praised, but lenders must look beyond addressing racial diversity and economic inequality with charity if they want to thrive in a changing America.
As banks grapple with the ways the banking industry has contributed to longstanding racial inequalities, minority business advocates say traditional lenders also have an opportunity to both grow their businesses and help close the racial wealth gap.
Community organizations see opportunities for banks and credit unions to make efforts to help minority-owned businesses, many of them in the same communities most affected by the public health crisis.
Two of the biggest names in Greater Boston development are joining with two of the region’s biggest community banks to support a $10 million effort to give free bridge loans to Black- and Latino-owned businesses struggling in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
