Veta T. Jeffery joined Midwest BankCentre as senior vice president of community and economic development. Her office is located at the Midwest BankCentre branch at 6810 Page Ave. in Pagedale.
Her primary responsibility will be to expand the Heartland St. Louis Black Chamber of Commerce (HSBCC), serving the full metro St. Louis region. As a member of the bank’s community and economic development team, she will focus on serving established and emerging businesses.
At its July 2018 convention, Jeffery also was elected to the US Black Chambers’ board as national director of chamber relations. In that role, she will work to connect top African-American-owned businesses with Fortune 500 companies to generate economic growth.
A unit of the US Black Chambers of Commerce, the HSBCC covers metro St. Louis and surrounding areas. It is part of the Heartland Regional Chamber, which includes Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. To achieve business and community growth, she also focuses on capacity-building for individuals, families, faith-based and community organizations, businesses, financial institutions and others.
“Veta Jeffery adds great value to our team and to the community by blending essential financial advisory experience with proven skills in advocacy, collaboration and engagement,” said Alex Fennoy, executive vice president of community and economic development at Midwest BankCentre. “Our entire community will benefit from her multidimensional contributions.”
Prior to joining Midwest BankCentre, Jeffery was most recently manager of community economic partnerships with the state of Missouri’s Department of Economic Development. She also served as community development officer with the Missouri Office of Community Engagement.
Previously, she held various senior management and diversity strategy positions with private sector companies, including Prudential Financial Services. Her work is informed by her experience as an entrepreneur, business consultant, elected official and community advocate.
Jeffery’s current and past civic involvement includes leadership roles with the St. Louis Regional Unbanked Task Force; the Money Smart School of Finance for Children; and the Workforce Diversity Council in the state of Missouri’s Office of Equal Opportunity.
She is a graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
“I am pleased to be able to work toward creating and expanding opportunities for our city and our metro region to grow together,” Jeffery said. “This work matches my strong desire to be a servant-leader, with the aim of helping everyone in our community rise together.”
