JPMorgan Chase to invest $50M more in Detroit for residents who are 'left behind'
JPMorgan Chase will be investing $50 million in Detroit to focus on racial disparities, the company said Wednesday.
By 2022, the company will have invested $200 million in the recovering city.
“Too many people are being left behind, and we need to build an economy that works for everyone,” Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s CEO said in a statement.
“Our new investment in Detroit will help the system work for more people – giving more Detroiters access to the tools they need to succeed, stay and benefit from Detroit’s continued recovery,” he added. “A good education, the skills to secure a good job, a home, and the capital and assistance to start and grow a small business are some of the tools to creating opportunity and a society where everyone benefits.”
Since 2014, the company has invested $155 million for Detroit’s economic recovery, exceeding its original promise of $150 million. In that time, the company said it helped thousands of residents improve their financial health and receive job training. It also said its investment helped create jobs and affordable housing units.
This new investment, according to the company, will put $20 million towards affordable housing for low-income families, $12 million towards black entrepreneurs and $10 million towards job training.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPM | JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. | 247.08 | +25.56 | +11.54% |
The final $8 million will go towards “financial health” of Detroit residents by helping raise wages for certain employees to $16.50 per hour and helping residents have better access to financial counseling services, the company said.
“JPMorgan Chase stepped up to support Detroit at a critical time in our history,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in a release about the initiative. “There’s more work to do, and I’m glad JPMorgan Chase is expanding their investment in the Motor City. Their investment has proven to others that Detroit is a good bet.”
“Business has to be involved in trying to fix some of our serious problems,” Dimon told Yahoo Finance, in regard to his company’s new investment.
“This new effort is because there's still a class of citizens being left behind,” he added. “And it's often minority. And they're, in this case, black Americans. So this $50 million is a special effort to help black entrepreneurs, to do education, small business, and housing.”
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In April, JPMorgan Chase announced it would award $3 million to Louisville, Kentucky, Syracuse, New York, Chicago, San Diego and Miami for its AdvancingCities initiative.
The AdvancingCities program was launched last year as a competition for cities to come up with plans for innovative solutions to drive growth and create economic opportunity. JPMorgan received more than 250 proposals for the challenge.
Fox Business’ Rachel Sherman contributed to this report.