Hancock Whitney launched their Community Reinvestment Act division, Hancock Whitney Small Business Matters, in the summer of 2019. It serves as a comprehensive, company-wide entrepreneurship and small business outreach program to educate and create opportunities for pre-existing business owners and their teams, with an emphasis on minority and women-owned businesses.
Hancock Whitney Small Business Matters concentrates on four goals for entrepreneurial and small business success: grow, fund, market and manage. Initial training entails series of three-hour sessions exploring those areas of concentration. Special sessions on related topics are available at clinics and in-market expos co-hosted by Hancock Whitney small business experts and approved business and community partners adept in certain fields of expertise.
Hancock Whitney’s 2020 competitive grants afforded funding for eligible 501 (c)(3) organizations providing technical assistance and promoting the growth of businesses with revenues of $1 million or less, particularly minority and women owned businesses struggling to survive pandemic hardships. The bank also dedicates a floor of its historic Gulfport Building as a Mississippi Small Business Development Center (MS-SBDC) Business Resource Center—a hub to help Gulf Coast entrepreneurs and small businesses succeed.
For their incredible efforts, Hancock Whitney has been awarded a 2021 ABA Foundation Community Commitment Award. This award recognizes and promotes the many valuable ways banks of all sizes contribute to economic growth, community development and enhancing the quality of life in their communities—and is a true badge of honor for any bank to earn.
