Banks of all sizes and nonprofit partners are working together in Nashville to build communities, finance small business and create jobs, ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols wrote in a joint op-ed in the Tennessean today. Nichols and Pathway Lending President Clint Gwinn highlighted the important role these partnerships have played in helping Nashville transform into a thriving urban center that attracts almost 30,000 new residents each year.
Last week, bankers at ABA’s Annual Convention saw the benefits of these partnerships firsthand, touring several of the businesses Pathway Lending, a local community development financial institution, supports, including Nashville Craft Distillery and Dozen Bakery, and two affordable housing developments — Ryman Lofts and Nance Place — in Nashville’s Wedgewood-Houston and Rolling Mill Hill neighborhoods.
“A city is its own complex symphony, comprised of businesses of various sizes and individuals with diverse backgrounds,” Nichols and Gwin wrote. “And banks of all sizes — from the nationwide banks that leveraged complex federal tax credits to the regional banks that finance the construction of new stores and offices to the community banks on the corner that helped families secure their first mortgages — are working together within this musical ensemble to help entrepreneurs succeed, families grow and communities thrive.”
