Featured photo: Steve Steinour, CEO of Huntington Bank
Written by Tanya Terry
Steve Steinour, CEO of Huntington Bank recently spoke to the Flint Courier News about Huntington Bank’s impact on Flint people may not realize and the bank’s record quarter in terms of earnings.
“We had tremendous growth in deposits and loans,” he said. “We had an all-time record low in terms of losses, called charge-offs. We, like many companies, have long term financial goals. We published these in December of 2020, and we were able to deliver them during the course of the quarter. So, it was an extraordinarily good quarter for us. As we shared with our investors and analysts on a call, we have a lot of momentum going into the third quarter as well. So, we should have a good year.”
Huntington has over 525 colleagues in Flint.
“So, it’s a very important market to us-Flint and Genesee County. We’re doing a lot of real estate financing in the downtown area as you see the revitalization that’s still occurring.”
Steinour named the Hilton Garden Inn and Berkley Place Apartments, as well as the Flint Public Library rehabilitation as projects Huntington has been involved in, along with many others.
He indicated a good year for Huntington should mean a good year for Flint.
Genesee County Resident Greg Viener, regional president for Huntington Bank in the Mid-Michigan region, said Huntington is really excited to be in the community and to engage in the Flint community. There are 14 Huntington branches in Flint and Genese County. There is also a large call center in downtown Flint.
“We have several lines of business that all kind of reach out to the community,” Viener said. “That’s where the impact-our people really make a large impact. Our mission is really to look out for people.”
Viener pointed out right around the time COVID-19 pandemic was starting, the Marketplace Apartments opened-a 92-unit mixed income apartment complex in Flint.
“We were a part of that,” he said. “That was an approximate $19 million total project. We had a piece of that, and then we were working with the Uptown Reinvestment Corporation.
He also stated the Hilton Garden Inn, with 101 guests rooms, brought in 60 jobs.
He also talked about the Berkley Place Apartments, a 33-unit apartment complex on Ballenger Road.
“It was challenging during COVID, but we continued in that, with a partnership with Communities First. Those were some of our larger ones. But we also help the smaller businesses, as well through our Huntington Lift Local. That’s part of our community plan commitment. Our Huntington Lift Local really helps build small businesses with loans from $1,000 to $150,000 that may not have access into an organization that can help provide capital. Since the program has started, we have actually 30 loans in our region as well with that.”
In addition, Huntington works with nonprofit organizations, such as the United Way, Habitat for Humanity and Berston Fieldhouse.
At Berston Fieldhouse, for example, Huntington has been part of events such as the Juneteenth event held there, as a large sponsor. Viener said Berston is a partner that helps them with the financial literacy educational sessions they hold.
He indicated Huntington plans to continue its partnership with Berston and other local organizations and businesses in the future.
