Stamford-headquartered Webster Financial Corp. has unveiled a $6.5 billion community development initiative in the markets that it serves and established a new Office of Corporate Responsibility to oversee its community engagement efforts.
The new initiative will include investments in affordable housing and homeownership, with $1.35 billion in low- and moderate-income residential lending and $1 billion in multifamily lending; $2.1 billion in community development lending and investments over three years; $2.1 billion in small business lending over three years with focus on minority- and women-owned businesses; and continued support for programs that address food scarcity, workforce development and financial literacy for youth, and the needs of an aging population.
“We want to provide the opportunity for individuals in our communities to excel. This commitment represents a greater investment than the sum of the investments made by each bank on a stand-alone basis,” said Marissa Weidner, chief corporate responsibility officer. “Webster worked with a number of community groups to develop this program. We appreciate the shared time and feedback from all of these organizations.”
