KeyBank Invests $648M in Region Through Community Benefits Plan

CLEVELAND, Ohio — KeyBank has released its 2019 corporate responsibility report, highlighting the results from the first three years of the National Community Benefits Plan, under which KeyBank has invested over $12.1 billion in communities.

In northeastern Ohio, KeyBank reported it has invested more than $648 million under the plan to support low-to-moderate income communities.

“Helping clients and communities thrive is KeyBank’s purpose, and our longstanding commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion drives meaningful investments in northeast Ohio and all of the communities we serve,” said Timothy Burke, market president.

“Building stable neighborhoods is even more critical today due to COVID-19,” he continued. “We’re proud to stand with the businesses and families of Northeast Ohio to deal with fallout from this situation. Our work prior to this crisis has laid a solid foundation from which KeyBank will continue to build to support our communities.”

Highlights from the community benefits plan results include:

  • In northeast Ohio, KeyBank has invested a total of $315 million in community developments the past three years, including projects that will provide affordable housing, revitalize and stabilize neighborhoods, and support vital community service initiatives.
  • KeyBank originated $1.3 billion in small business loans since 2017 to low-to-moderate income borrowers and urban and rural communities. This includes $110 million in small business loans in northeast Ohio. KeyBank has committed to investing $2.5 billion in small business lending over the five years of the National Community Benefits Plan.
  • KeyBank’s mortgage lending to low-to-moderate income communities was nearly $972 million in 2019, an increase of 31% over the previous year. In northeast Ohio. KeyBank provided $84.7 million in mortgages to low-to-moderate income communities during the past year, for a total of $178 million the last three years.
  • During the first three years of the community benefits plan, KeyBank made more than $44 million in philanthropic investments in neighbors and neighborhoods in northeast Ohio.

“Community investment is always an important part of our business. But it’s even more important today with our community dealing with the economic fallout from COVID-19,” said Burke.

Nationally, KeyBank has made an $18 million philanthropic commitment for COVID-19 response throughout the most vulnerable communities. This includes grant support for struggling small businesses through the KeyBank Business Boost and Build Program in partnership with JumpStart.

In addition, KeyBank gave back $270,000 to communities through the #KeyBankAssists program, which surprised 2,640 families in April with gift cards to local restaurants and thanked more than 50 essential worker and first responder teams with gift cards, supporting 12 charities and 60 small businesses. In northeast Ohio, KeyBank partnered with Larry Nance, Jr. from the Cleveland Cavaliers to bring this project to life. KeyBank Assists returns this week.

KeyBank also said its annual day of service, Neighbors Make The Difference Day, has become a virtual event in 2020 where employees will have more than 9,000 volunteer events to choose from. Since March, KeyBank employees have logged more than 1,475 hours on virtual volunteer projects across the country .

SOURCE: KeyBank.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.