FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SANTANDER BANK AWARDS $225,000 TO DORCHESTER BAY EDC INNOVATION LENDING PROGRAM
New Contribution Will Fund Small Business Engagement and Loan Servicing
BOSTON, Massachusetts — Santander Bank announced that it has awarded a three-year grant in the amount of $225,000 to Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation (DBEDC), a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). The grant aligns with Santander Bank’s commitment to financial education and economic/small business development and will fund DBEDC’s Innovation Lending platform — an ambitious and high impact growth strategy to support entrepreneurs and growing businesses.
Launched in May 2018, DBEDC’s Innovation Lending growth strategy deploys an online lending platform, cutting-edge financial tools, and new strategic partnerships into communities where capital, technical assistance, and other supports are sorely needed. In developing Innovation Lending, DBEDC commissioned market research which concluded that more than 3,000 businesses in DBEDC’s target communities of Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, Mattapan, Hyde Park, and Roslindale neighborhoods are likely in need of business capital. The grant from Santander Bank will enable DBEDC to develop a targeted marketing strategy to engage local small businesses and allow DBEDC to build the capacity necessary to service existing customers and support aspiring entrepreneurs.
“Santander Bank strives to make a measurable difference in the lives of low- to moderate-income (LMI) individuals and communities,” said Jesse Villarreal, Santander’s Executive Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility Director (Interim) and Head of Government Relations and Public Policy. “We are proud of our partnership with organizations like the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation that work to stabilize neighborhoods, provide affordable housing, support vulnerable populations, and help diverse entrepreneurs and small businesses prosper.”
“Our lending program is on a steep growth curve, which is essential to meet our ambitious goals,” said Dorchester Bay CEO Perry B. Newman. “This generous grant from Santander will help us to deploy additional capital into the community, enabling more entrepreneurs to create jobs and wealth for themselves and their employees. It will make a big difference for us and our community.”
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About Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation
Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation (DBEDC) is a community development corporation founded by local civic associations in 1979 to address the problems of economic disinvestment, unemployment, crime, community tensions and the shortage of quality affordable housing undermining Boston’s Dorchester neighborhoods. Over the last 39 years, we have worked in partnership with local leaders and stakeholders to build and preserve 1,100 units of affordable housing and over 200,000 square feet of commercial space, to engage residents in community life, and to support a robust economy through small business support and economic development. The structures we have built are physical manifestations of our work, but at its core, our work is about strengthening our community, which is made up of the people who live in our service area. To learn more about Dorchester Bay, please visit www.dbedc.org.
About Santander Bank, N.A.
Santander Bank, N.A. is one of the country’s largest retail and commercial banks with more than $79 billion in assets. With its corporate offices in Boston, the Bank’s 9,700 employees, more than 650 branches, 2,100 ATMs and 2.1 million customers are principally located in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) – one of the most respected banking groups in the world with more than 125 million customers in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. It is managed by Santander Holdings USA, Inc., Banco Santander’s intermediate holding company in the U.S. For more information on Santander Bank, please visit www.santanderbank.com.
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Release Contacts:
Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation
Perry B. Newman, Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]
Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation
Kimberly R. Lyle, Director of Strategy and Impact
[email protected]
