The American Bankers Association (ABA) recognized Comerica Bank for its impact in supporting Southern Dallas small businesses and nonprofits through Comerica BusinessHQ™, naming the program as a winner of this year’s ABA Foundation Community Commitment Awards.
BusinessHQ earned the Community Commitment Award in the category of Community & Economic Development, which was presented during the ABA’s Annual Convention on Tuesday, Oct. 29, in New York City.
“We are extremely honored to earn this recognition and shine a spotlight on the hard work that Comerica, its colleagues and members of the community have put forth to make this project a success,” said Brandon Jones, Comerica Senior Vice President, National External Affairs Manager and BusinessHQ project lead. “BusinessHQ represents our commitment to fostering the success of the Southern Dallas community and its nonprofits and small businesses. By providing support and access to critical resources, we are not only supporting individual entrepreneurs but also ensuring the local community continues to thrive for years to come.”
Since opening its doors in 2023, BusinessHQ has served as a collaborative business resource center that provides integral services and value for high need, high opportunity small businesses in the Southern sector of Dallas. The 8,000-square foot space offers free workspaces, high speed Wi-Fi, printing and scanning services, video conferencing rooms and content creation rooms with green screens, backdrops and lighting for business owners and entrepreneurs.
BusinessHQ was designed to function as part of the Southern Dallas small business ecosystem and serve as an epicenter of vetted, credible community partners to present effective and impactful small business incubation and technical assistance. The program continues to assemble a robust and growing roster of strategic community partners.
The program has delivered in serving the needs of small business owners, entrepreneurs and nonprofits in Dallas’ southern sector. The measurable impact includes:
- 3,713 people served through programming
- $118,102 in no-cost coworking provided to BusinessHQ members
- 528 hours of Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) technical assistance programing hosted at BusinessHQ
- 199 total programs hosted
- $20,467 of in-kind rent provided to in-house incubation partners
- 250 small business owners and non-profit members onboarded
***(Data is from May 2023 to Sept. 2024)
The ABA Foundation Community Commitment Awards recognize banks’ extraordinary acts of service to support the people in their communities and grow their local economies. The awards program recognizes banks nationally among seven categories: affordable housing, community & economic development, economic inclusion, financial education, protecting older Americans, supporting military families, and volunteerism. Award winners were chosen by a field of nationally-recognized experts in each field.
The selection committee chose the winning banks based on the creativity and thoughtfulness of programs – traditional or innovation in nature and structure – that embody the ideals of corporate social responsibility and demonstrate success in making an impact.
“Comerica Bank’s BusinessHQ program demonstrated the extraordinary impact that banks can make in the communities they serve,” said Lindsay Torrico, executive director, ABA Foundation. “We’re proud to recognize them as one of the 2024 Community Commitment Award winners and hope their efforts will inspire others throughout the industry.”
For more information about BusinessHQ visit comerica.com/businesshq and for more information on the ABA Foundation Community Commitment Awards, visit aba.com/awards
