SYRACUSE — Cleveland, Ohio–based KeyBank (NYSE: KEY) in early 2017 announced its five-year, national community-benefits plan that includes $16.5 billion in investments across the communities it serves. The blueprint “addresses concerns expressed by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and NCRC member organizations, in light of KeyBank’s … acquisition of First Niagara,” according to a […]
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SYRACUSE — Cleveland, Ohio–based KeyBank (NYSE: KEY) in early 2017 announced its five-year, national community-benefits plan that includes $16.5 billion in investments across the communities it serves.
The blueprint “addresses concerns expressed by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and NCRC member organizations, in light of KeyBank’s … acquisition of First Niagara,” according to a description on the KeyBank website.
The Washington, D.C.–based NCRC works with “community leaders, policymakers and financial institutions to champion fairness in banking, housing and business,” according to its website.
KeyCorp, the parent company of KeyBank, acquired Buffalo–based First Niagara Financial Group in 2016, adding to its presence in Central New York and the broader upstate New York region.
Local impact
KeyBank expects to allocate up to 35 percent of the overall $16.5 billion figure in the overlapping KeyBank and First Niagara markets in upstate New York and Pennsylvania.
“That’s where we expect more than a third of … the $16.5 billion to go to,” says Don Graves, Jr., head of corporate responsibility at KeyBank. He spoke with CNYBJ on May 2 at the KeyBank office at 201 S. Warren St. in Syracuse.
“The $16.5 billion is focused on low and moderate-income communities in our footprint,” Graves notes.
In the program’s first year, KeyBank spent close to $30 million in 2017 in supporting affordable-housing projects in the Syracuse area with low-income tax credits and affordable-housing loans, says Stephen Fournier, market president for KeyBank in Central New York. Fournier joined Graves for the CNYBJ interview on May 2.
The projects include the Harborbrook Apartments near the Centers at St. Camillus in Geddes. The bank also made about $1.2 million in donations to nonprofit organizations, including a $200,000 donation to the Syracuse Rescue Mission last October to help cover costs in its $6.5 million renovation and expansion of the organization’s food-services center.
The KeyBank Business Boost & Build program on May 1 announced it had awarded $115,000 to CenterState CEO. The funding will help expand its UP Start Syracuse program in collaboration with the Upstate Minority Economic Alliance (UMEA). It’ll also help its support of the South Side Innovation Center (SSIC) at 2610 S. Salina St. in Syracuse and Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (WISE).
Types of investments
The KeyBank plan in its overall footprint includes $5 billion worth of investments in mortgage lending and $8.8 billion of investments in community-development lending.
“These are for projects that help build and sustain communities, mixed-use projects, affordable-housing developments,” says Graves.
The plan also includes $2.5 billion in small-business investments, along with $175 million that KeyBank plans for philanthropic investments across the footprint. It also includes an additional $3 million that the bank has set aside for innovation projects.
Graves joined Fournier to visit with a local advisory council for input on what local projects and issues KeyBank’s plan could benefit as the program continues. Fournier says the council includes the City of Syracuse, the Gifford Foundation of Syracuse, and Syracuse–based Home HeadQuarters Inc.
Fournier called it a “collaborative process” as KeyBank works with community stakeholders to figure out how to get people out of poverty and have a “broader impact on the community.”
It’s a group that Graves hopes will “give me a better flavor of the types of issues that folks are dealing with and everyday challenges.”
In his new role as KeyBank’s head of corporate responsibility, Graves is succeeding Bruce Murphy, who is vacating the position. Graves is working with Murphy as he transitions into the role. His office is in Cleveland, Ohio, he says.
Graves has worked for KeyBank for more than a year, originally hired as senior VP and senior director of corporate community initiatives and relations, according to his LinkedIn page.
