As part of a larger series, the Business-Journal is highlighting the First Coast's emerging startups, tech innovators, lenders and players in the region's ecosystem. To better introduce the region to the area's lenders, the Business-Journal sat down with PNC Bank Regional President for North Florida Brian Bucher to learn more about the bank and some of the programs it offers the First Coast.
Tell me a little about your lending institution and how it engages local tech innovators and startups?
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) is one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States with assets of $554 billion as of June 30, 2021. PNC provides innovative services and financial expertise that help both consumer and business clients achieve their financial goals. The bank has a retail branch network spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Southeast and Southwest; products and services provided nationally; and four strategic international offices.
Through its regional president model, PNC is organized around its customers and communities for building strong relationships and is engaged in retail banking, including residential mortgage, corporate and institutional banking, and asset management. PNC is in the process of acquiring BBVA USA. The acquisition, which legally closed on June 1, significantly accelerates PNC’s national expansion and greatly enhances the bank’s opportunities for continued growth. Once BBVA USA employees and customers are fully converted to PNC, the bank will have approximately 60,000 employees nationwide and be among the five largest U.S. banks in terms of assets, loans, deposits and branches. PNC will have a coast-to-coast national franchise with a retail or commercial presence in 29 of the country's 30 largest markets and serve markets that represent 65 percent of the U.S. population.
PNC Bank in the North Florida market currently has hundreds of employees in the Mortgage Call Center and with our strong Corporate & Institutional Banking team. We’ll now be offering a full range of products and services including cash flow lending and equipment finance, wealth & asset management, treasury management, credit, real estate, capital markets, retail and business banking, amongst others. Once the BBVA USA integration is finalized, PNC will rank third in Jacksonville in deposit market share and will acquire 28 branches in Alachua, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns Counties.
Do you offer any specific programs for minority-owned or women-owned businesses?
Yes. In fact, PNC recently launched a page within the small business section of pnc.com, dedicated to providing resources to minority-owned businesses to help accelerate their growth and success. Additionally, key components of PNC’s $88 billion Community Benefits Plan, developed in connection with the approval and closing of PNC’s acquisition of BBVA USA, are focused on supporting small businesses within low- and moderate-income communities and among people and communities of color. This includes $26.5 billion in small business lending, specifically.
An example of our commitment to women- in business, can be found in the recent launch of PNC’s Project 257: Accelerating Women's Financial Equality to bring a renewed focus and purpose to our longstanding commitment to women. The name Project 257 comes from the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Gender Gap Report, which says that if progress toward gender equity continued at the current pace, it would still take another 257 years for women to catch up to men economically. Certain reasons for the gap fall within areas that we believe PNC can help address, including:
- Unequal access to credit: our new three-year, $1.257 million partnership with the global nonprofit SheEO, which provides 0% interest business loans to entrepreneurs, is one way that PNC is strengthening our focus on expanding women’s access to credit to help close the economic gender gap. Additionally, we continue to monitor our policies and practices for evaluating creditworthiness, and our thousands of PNC-Certified Women’s Business Advocates regularly talk to women about the benefits of borrowing from a bank instead of their savings.
- The disproportionate burden of unpaid domestic work that women shoulder is another big contributor to the 257-year gap. Even in the United States, women do twice the amount of caregiving as men. PNC is the financial institution uniquely positioned to confront this issue through our $500 million early childhood education initiative, PNC Grow Up Great. The initiative supports early childhood education programs and organizations, including daycare centers -- support that positively impacts not only families and caregivers, but also the female workforce that leads these organizations and the next generation of women.
What are your thoughts on the First Coast ecosystem and what do you think is needed?
I would like to see more Fortune 500 companies bring their headquarters and employees to Jacksonville. In addition, an attraction to bring a steady wave of tourism into the city would be welcome. We have everything to offer in our beautiful city - a thriving business community, incredible dining options, arts and culture, sporting events, great weather, and the beaches.
