M&T Bank Focuses on Community Involvement

10.20.2022
Member News

M&T Bank is celebrating its first multicultural branch in Greater Hartford, cutting the ribbon on a new branch on Main St. in East Hartford.  

“This bank will meet the community where they live,” said East Hartford Mayor Mike Walsh.  

“The opening of the East Hartford multicultural branch illustrates our understanding and commitment to the East Hartford community,” said M&T Bank Hartford Regional President Michael Weinstock. 

The new East Hartford branch will provide services for customers in their primary language, including English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. It’s one of more than 100 similar branches, about 10% of M&T’s entire footprint.

“I love this community. I couldn’t be happier to be back with a brand new bank with a great leadership team,” said East Hartford branch manager Heydi Sifuentes.

“When we say at M&T that we’re a part of the community, we mean it,” said M&T Bank Hartford Regional President Michael Weinstock. 

Nonprofit Grants

Helping the community is also at the center of a major investment by M&T. The bank has awarded $6 million to 44 Connecticut nonprofits through the first round of its Amplify Fund grants.  

The fund was first announced in May 2022, as part of the merger between M&T Bank and People’s United Bank.

The $25 million fund is aimed at helping community-based organizations with a commitment to high need, frequently underserved, marginalized or overlooked communities. 

The grants will help the organizations improve the lives of their communities through “programmatic, capacity-building and/or policy-based work.” 

Community Projects

The grants provide funding for projects including:

  • Helping low-income BIPOC individuals find new career pathways via job training and mentorship programs, and direct support to BIPOC and women owned small businesses to help develop and grow their businesses.
  • Funding and expansion of safe and stable mission-driven housing to low-income households, and expansion of physical and mental health services for homeless youth in Connecticut.
  • Hiring of additional staff and expansion of organizational capacity across numerous organizations of different types and missions.

“M&T is a community-focused bank, and we are proud to support and stand alongside these impactful organizations to help them do good in the communities which we all value,” said Mike Keegan, M&T Bank senior executive vice president. 

“This first round of Amplify Fund grants being invested in Connecticut is part of a broader commitment to initiatives that are focused on supporting local partners with more capacity to achieve their objectives.”

Requests for the next round of grants will be announced at a later date. 

Amplify Fund Recipients

The full list of Connecticut Amplify Fund recipients include:

  • Alliance for Community Empowerment
  • Arts for Learning CT
  • Barnum Museum Foundation, Inc.
  • Bridgeport Caribe Youth Leaders
  • Bridgeport Economic Development Corporation
  • Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust, Inc.
  • Capital for Change
  • Cardinal Shehan Center
  • Career Resources, Inc.
  • Central Connecticut Coast YMCA
  • Community Action Agency for New Haven
  • Connecticut Association for the Performing Arts (Shubert Theatre)
  • Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program (ConnCORP)
  • Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants
  • Connecticut Council for Philanthropy
  • Connecticut Students for a Dream
  • Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities Inc
  • Fairfield County’s Community Foundation
  • Forge City Works
  • Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County
  • Hartford Land Bank, Inc
  • HEDCO, Inc.
  • Housatonic Community College Foundation
  • Housing Development Fund, Inc.
  • International Hartford Ltd.
  • Junior Achievement of Fairfield County
  • LifeBridge Community Services, Inc.
  • Local Initiatives Support Corporation Connecticut
  • Make the Road Connecticut
  • Mutual Housing Association of Greater Hartford Inc
  • Mutual Housing Association of South Central Connecticut, Inc.
  • Mutual Housing Association of Southwestern Connecticut (Connecticut Housing Partners)
  • Neighborhood Housing Services oOf New Haven, Inc
  • Our Piece of the Pie, Inc.
  • Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership
  • SCSU Foundation
  • Sheldon Oak Central, Inc.
  • The Center for Family Justice, Inc.
  • The Open Door Shelter
  • The San Juan Center
  • The WorkPlace
  • United Way of Coastal Fairfield County
  • Women’s Business Development Council

The full list of Amplify Fund Equity and Environment Initiative recipients include:

  • Connecticut Green Building Council
  • Connecticut Zoological Society, Inc. (dba Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo)
  • Greater Bridgeport Community Enterprises, Inc.
  • Groundwork Bridgeport
  • Save the Sound
  • The Trust for Public Land
Tags:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stay Connected with CBIA News Digests

The latest news and information delivered directly to your inbox.

CBIA IS FIGHTING TO MAKE CONNECTICUT A TOP STATE FOR BUSINESS, JOBS, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH. A BETTER BUSINESS CLIMATE MEANS A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR EVERYONE.