Midwest BankCentre’s Chairman and CEO, Orvin T. Kimbrough, recently hosted an event at his home to celebrate Midwest BankCentre’s deep relationships with those within the Black community. More than 90 individuals from the local African-American community joined Kimbrough, one of the nation’s only diverse CEOs of a major bank, to build relationships and connections. Attendees networked and heard remarks from Midwest BankCentre’s board members, David Mason, president and CEO of David Mason + Associates, Cheryl Walker, attorney at Walker Commercial Group and Wes Burns, executive vice president of community and economic development for Midwest BankCentre.Â
Midwest BankCentre has leveraged its Network for Good to help build connections and capacity within multicultural communities, particularly those who have historically been denied access to capital, to start and scale businesses, purchase homes, and fund education.
“We have to think differently about how we grow our region,” said Kimbrough. “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and minority-owned businesses and those who have curiosity and capacity to start businesses, in particular, are an untapped resource in our region.” Kimbrough also noted that for many Black entrepreneurs, acquiring capital from lenders or private investors is their biggest hurdle in running a successful business. This has made it harder for Black business owners to start and scale their businesses.
In 2021, Midwest BankCentre announced a commitment to lend $200 million over a five-year period to the people, nonprofits, faith-based institutions, community development projects, and small businesses residing in or benefiting historically divested communities. Midwest BankCentre invests a considerable amount of time and resources working through the challenges that, unfortunately, aren’t just surface-level complexities. They are deeply rooted, systemically rooted, with the result being the exclusion of individuals and communities from accessing reasonably priced capital. Â
