Dedication to the community has proven profitable for Carver, which is touted as the largest African- and Caribbean-American operated bank in the country.
Carver Surges
The earliest Black-owned banks which first opened for business in the late 19th century-were educational, self-help vehicles.
For Black communities, these burgeoning enterprises were the main
source of information regarding buying homes, starting businesses and
other financial activities.
Reconnecting to this legacy,
Carver Bancorp, Inc., the holding company for Carver Federal Savings
Bank, recently announced an alliance with Merrill Lynch. “Now our
customers and communities have access to one of the world’s best wealth
management experts, right in their neighborhood,” says Carver’s
chairman and chief executive officer, Deborah C. Wright.
“This
unprecedented alliance continues Carver’s history of identifying the
unique financial needs of our communities and helping provide our
customers with access to the financial products and services they need
to create security and build wealth for themselves and their families.”
Dedication to the community has proven profitable for Carver,
which is touted as the largest African- and Caribbean-American operated
bank in the country. Last year Carver acquired the Brooklyn-based
Community Capital Bank in an $11 million deal-the largest in Carver
history.
More recently Carver was listed as the top
grossing bank on the Black Enterprise top 100 list. Wright attributes
Carver’s recent gains to “the support of our loyal customers and the
hard work of our employees.”
The Harlem-based
institution first began operations with just one employee on January 5,
1949, the birthday of George Washington Carver, the world renowned
scientist after whom the bank is named. From these humble beginnings on
West 125th Street, Carver evolved into a thriving enterprise with $655
million in assets and 130 employees. The bank operates eight full
service branches in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and
Manhattan.
Wright is proud that all Carver’s branches are
located in areas predominently populated by African Americans. To
display a sense of unity with the neighborhood, in 2001 when Carver
opened it’s branch on 117th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard in
Harlem, two Adrinkra symbols, WAWA ABA and ERA, meaning
“perseverance” and “justice” were featured in the branch’s design.
Adinkra symbols are used by the Asante people of Ghana and can be found
woven into cloth and on walls and pottery.
Wright, who earned
A.B., J.D. and MBA degrees from Harvard University, took over the reins
of Carver in 1999. As for being listed as the top bank in BE,
Wright says “Carver is honored to be listed No. 1 on the BE 100s list
of Banks.we are very excited about the coming year and the
opportunities it will bring for Carver and our communities.”
Before
assuming her current position, Wright was President and CEO of the
Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation. She
previously served as Commissioner of the Department of Housing
Preservation and Development under Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. Prior to
that appointment, Mayor David N. Dinkins appointed Wright to the New
York City Housing
Authority Board.
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