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Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) selected Springfield-based Legacy Bank & Trust Co. for funding as part of the California iPhone maker's racial equity and justice initiative.
Legacy Bank is one of 12 financial institutions nationwide selected to share in $25 million from Apple to support minorities and low-income communities, according to a news release. An Apple spokesperson declined to disclose the specific amount earmarked for Legacy Bank.
Apple is working with CNote, a California-based fintech company, to deploy the funding.
“We’re committed to helping ensure that everyone has access to the opportunity to pursue their dreams and create our shared future," said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, in the release. "By working with CNote to get funds directly to historically under-resourced communities through their local financial institutions, we can support equity, entrepreneurship and access.”
Through its racial equity and justice initiative, Apple previously announced more than $130 million in commitments to support economic empowerment, such as capital for minority-owned businesses.
In a statement provided to Springfield Business Journal by Legacy Bank, company officials described the funding process with Apple.
“Legacy Bank & Trust, as a community development financial institution, is able to take deposits from entities like Apple and deploy those funds in the form of loans to revitalize or develop underserved areas with some of the most critical fundamentals to a community, such as the creation of affordable housing units as well as business loans that will create or at least retain jobs that can provide living wages,” the statement reads.
Legacy Bank has been the recipient of specialized funding before.
Late last year, its holding company, Ozarks Heritage Financial Group Inc., was approved for nearly $82 million in U.S. Treasury Department funds to support disadvantaged businesses and communities, according to past reporting.
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