LOUISVILLE, Ky. — First Financial Bank and its Foundation have established a new Minority Small Business Fund that will provide $60,000 to the Louisville Housing Opportunities and Micro-Enterprise (LHOME) Community Development Fund for distribution to small, minority-owned businesses in the Louisville area.
Funds will be distributed in the form of grants for small, minority-owned businesses with a limited number of employees. LHOME will administer the grants and manage local distribution.
Overall, the First Financial Bank Minority Small Business Fund will distribute a total of $250,000 this year through local economic development organizations in Columbus, Ohio; Dayton; Indianapolis; Louisville; and Northwest Indiana. These organizations will in turn distribute to minority small businesses in their areas.
This newest initiative builds upon First Financial Bank’s record of lending to and supporting minority-owned businesses and businesses in emerging markets. First Financial is more than halfway toward the $1.7 billion goals in its 5-year Community Benefits Agreement from 2018, which focuses on lending and investments with minority clients and in minority census tracts. First Financial has also supported minority-owned businesses by increasing the diversity of its vendor outsourcing by more than 50 percent in the last two years.
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