Buy

  • Identify opportunities to rebid current non-Baltimore supply and service contracts to increase spend with Baltimore City businesses.

Year One Progress: Continuing to identify these opportunities.

Year Two Progress: No update.

Year Three Progress: No update.

Year Four Progress: Spent $800,000 with Baltimore City businesses in 2019.

Year Five Progress: Spent $485,000 with Baltimore City businesses in 2020.

  • Hold all corporate employee events and investor meetings in Baltimore City in 2019.

Year Four Progress: No update.

Year Five Progress: No update.

  • Increase the bank’s corporate spend with local businesses by 100%, to $300,000, in 2016.

Year One Progress: Reduced spend with local vendors by $322,561, from $1.5 million in 2015 to just under $1.2 million in 2016, due to an overall decrease in operating expenses. The bank made a concerted effort to minimize the impact on Baltimore City suppliers from the expense reduction efforts.

Hire

  • Commit to hiring four interns from Baltimore’s most distressed communities in 2019.

Year Four Progress: We hired a total of five interns in 2019. Two interns were Baltimore City residents through the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development
(MOED) – YouthWorks Program and the other three interns were from Cristo Rey Jesuit High School – a co-educational, college preparatory school, empowering and embracing low-income families of religious, racial, and ethnic diversity.

Year Five Progress: Hired three interns from Baltimore City in 2020.

  • Continue to seek ways to provide financial services education to the underbanked areas of Baltimore City in 2019.

Year Four Progress: The Bank continued promoting home ownership at the various LIVE Baltimore events, mainly targeting first-time buyers in Baltimore City. This included instructing classes at the events on construction- permanent financing and budgeting.

Year Five Progress: No update.

  • Encourage members of our executive and management team to seek opportunities to serve on Baltimore City non-profit board organizations in 2019.

Year Four Progress: In 2019, our Executive management team began to take more of an active role in encouraging colleagues to seek opportunities to serve on non-profit boards. Community involvement is at the core of Howard Bank’s values. A bank with a mission to create legacies must avail itself of every opportunity to do so. It’s also a practical way to broaden and deepen employee networks, to gain new leadership skills and to learn hands-on about the communities we serve. Yearly surveys were put in place along with identifying opportunities for board placements through our philanthropic giving activities.

Year Five Progress: No update.

  • Encourage employees to use their Volunteer Time Off (VTO) hours with non-profits in targeted areas to support our focus on workforce development in 2018 and 2019.

Year Four Progress: In 2018, the Bank created our Volunteer Time Off (VTO) program which allows employees to use work hours to give back to the community. The program provides each employee 20 paid hours a year to volunteer during work hours and has helped align employees with Howard Bank’s community-centered approach. In 2019 we increased VTO hours used by 37%.

Year Five Progress: 490 WTO hours used during through virtual and socially distant activities in 2020.

  • Commit to including qualified applicants from targeted areas when filling job positions in 2019.

Year Four Progress: No update.

Year Five Progress: No update.

  • Continue to participate in the BLocal Build College via teaching the Banking and Financing Course in 2019.

Year Four Progress: Howard Bank participated in BLocal’s Build College, a program that provides training for small, local, minority-owned, woman-owned and/or disadvantaged Baltimore-based businesses in the design and construction industries. Training sessions focus on construction, design, and business related topics such as reading architectural drawings and specifications, bidding and legal/contracting considerations, change management, project management, financial management/banking, human resources, business development, bonding/surety, insurance and safety/quality management. A Howard Bank Commercial Lending Team lead a 12 week course (2-3 hours per session).

Year Five Progress: No update.

  • Offer a structured program to educate participants on the full array of banking products and services and career opportunities in the financial services industry.

Year One Progress: Worked with Academy of Finance to educate high school students on the use of credit in real life situations, what to expect after graduation, and the importance of establishing a budget.

Year Two Progress: We continued our involvement with Junior Achievement, an organization designed to assist students in underserved areas with both their BizTown and Personal Finance Day projects. BizTown helps elementary school students understand the inner workings of how to establish a business while gaining knowledge on the financial side of the company. The Personal Finance Day consists of helping high school students create a budget based on the real life experience of employment and expenses necessary for everyday life. We also acted as a panel judge at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. This program helps high schools students understand the basics of creation of a business idea to making the idea a financial success.

Year Three Progress: Continued involvement with Junior Achievement and BizTown. In addition we have employees sit on the following Boards that focus on providing financial education to the underbanked: Guidewell Financial Solutions, Maryland Council on Economic Education, Live Baltimore, Harbel Housing and others.

Year Four Progress: We continued our involvement with Junior Achievement, an organization designed to assist students in underserved areas with both their BizTown and projects. BizTown helps elementary school students understand the inner workings of how to establish a business while gaining knowledge on the financial side of the company.

Year Five Progress: Continued partnership with Junior Achievement and continues to seek ways to provide financial services education.

  • Assist in the career development of residents in the targeted communities with education around résumé writing, financial literacy, and writing business plans.

Year One Progress: Assistance with these activities is ongoing.

Year Two Progress: As a member of the Business Volunteers of Maryland A+ Advisory Board we assisted both students and parents of Highlandtown Elementary School with the opportunity of increasing their knowledge about family finances. The goal was to improve their understanding of how to manage their finances by creating a budget.

Year Three Progress: No update.

Year Four Progress: No update.

Year Five Progress: No update.

We volunteered as an instructor for the YouthWorks Summer Program at seven different schools throughout Baltimore City with a total of 162 students in attendance. This program gave instruction on how to manage personal finances.

Year Three Progress: No update.

Year Four Progress: Howard Bank instructed three Financial Fitness Bootcamps put on by the Consumer Credit Counseling Services of MD and DE (CCCSMD). CCCSMD is a nonprofit agency whose mission is to help stabilize communities and promote economic self-sufficiency to individuals and families through financial education and counseling.

Year Five Progress: No update.

  • Commit to hiring two summer interns from Baltimore’s most distressed communities.

Year One Progress: Hired two summer interns from YouthWorks during Summer 2016.

Year Two Progress: We hired two interns for the summer of 2017 from the YouthWorks program.

Year Three Progress: We hired six interns for the summer of 2018 surpassing our goal by 200%. Two interns were from the YouthWorks Program and four were from the Cristo Rey program.

Year Four Progress: No update.

Year Five Progress: No update.

  • Continue to seek ways to provide financial services to the underbanked areas of Baltimore City.

Year One Progress: Participated in Junior Achievement Program.

Year Two Progress: The Bank continued promoting home ownership at the various LIVE Baltimore events, mainly targeting first-time buyers in Baltimore City. This included instructing classes at the events on construction- permanent financing and budgeting.

Year Three Progress: The Bank continued promoting home ownership at the various LIVE Baltimore events, mainly targeting first-time buyers in Baltimore City.

Year Four Progress: The Bank continued involvement with the Junior Achievement Program and continued promoting home ownership at the various LIVE Baltimore events, mainly targeting first-time buyers in Baltimore City. Howard Bank instructed three Financial Fitness Bootcamps put on by the Consumer Credit Counseling Services of MD and DE (CCCSMD). CCCSMD is a nonprofit agency whose mission is to help stabilize communities and promote economic self-sufficiency to individuals and families through financial education and counseling.

Year Five Progress: No update.

  • Increase participation in various programs for first-time home buyers.

Year One Progress: Increased relationships with home owner consulting agencies, continued participation with the Equal Opportunity Committee of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors, and conducted home-buying classes at the Canton bank branch.

Year Two Progress: Continued our involvement in the Equal Opportunity Committee by participating in a home buyer workshop in November for 40 attendees who were looking mostly to purchase a home in Baltimore City. Involvement was continued in the area of housing counseling agencies in Baltimore City for purpose of educating staff and prospective homebuyers

Year Three Progress: Involvement was continued in the area of housing counseling agencies in Baltimore City for purpose of educating staff and prospective home buyers.

Year Four Progress: The Bank continued promoting home ownership at the various LIVE Baltimore events, mainly targeting first-time buyers in Baltimore City and Bank instructed three Financial Fitness Bootcamps put on by the Consumer Credit Counseling Services of MD and DE (CCCSMD).

Year Five Progress: No update.

Build

  • Require 20% participation of Baltimore-based subcontractors, including MBEs and WBEs, in the $5 million renovation of corporate headquarters. (Goal made by First Mariner Bank and later fulfilled by Howard Bank after acquisition in 2017).

Year One Progress: Spent $2.1 million, or 33 percent, of $6.3 million headquarters renovation with MBEs/WBEs/LBEs, an increase of $1.1 million compared to goal.

Year Two Progress: The bank did not make any additional investments in the headquarters building in 2017

Year Three Progress: In 2018, Howard Bank acquired 1st Mariner Bank and made the decision to move their headquarters to Baltimore City. The cost associated with the HQ move was $312,000 with 100% of the move and renovation costs with MBEs/WBEs/LBEs. Howard Bank opened a branch in the Baltimore City community of Remington. We selected Remington to show our commitment to Baltimore city, and reinforce our promise to invest in local neighborhoods. The costs associated to build the branch was $345,000.

Year Four Progress: No Update.

Year Five Progress: No update.

  • Partner with BLocal companies to create a Contractors College that will provide support to growing Baltimore-based contractors. (Goal made by First Mariner Bank and later fulfilled by Howard Bank after acquisition in 2017).

Year One Progress: Participated in BLocal BUILD College.

Year Two Progress: Continued to support the BLocal Build College. We participated in a session called Introduction to Financial Management / Banking.

Year Three Progress: Participated in BLocal BUILD College via instructing the Banking and Finance Course.

Year Four Progress: No Update.

Year Five Progress: No update.

About Howard Bank

Since its inception in 2004, Howard Bank has been dedicated to serving the financial needs of businesses and families in the greater Baltimore Metropolitan market. As the largest bank in Baltimore City, we’ve built our reputation on our commitment to the local community.

The founders of Howard Bank saw a need for a local bank, with local expertise, to help small and medium sized businesses. The bank made a strategic decision to focus on the Baltimore market as opposed to the Washington, DC market primarily due to the relationship based business environment that exists in Baltimore. Relationships are the cornerstone to the principals at Howard Bank. At Howard, we enjoy meeting new business owners and learning about what makes their business a success. Through these conversations, we look for opportunities to help businesses grow, either through a direct partnership or by making introductions to others in our community who may serve as a partner or as a client.

Our bank professionals have years of experience helping businesses realize their full potential. Equally as important, we enjoy helping business owners and their employees manage their financial needs.

In the early years, Howard Bank recognized the importance of having local branch offices to serve our clients’ needs but we also realized the importance of meeting our clients when and where they prefer. As a startup business ourselves, we understand the importance of time and we’ve tailored our delivery to bring the bank to our customers. With appointment banking, we will meet you in your office, in our office, in a coffee shop, on the golf course, or anywhere else you’d like to meet. We’re flexible both with location and time. We also understand the importance of having cutting edge technology to help our clients manage their finances in this fast-paced life.

Today, Howard is flourishing with expert leadership that includes experienced and local executive officers, private bankers, branch managers and commercial relationship officers. Our technology is second to none, we offer robust treasury management, online, and mobile banking solutions that put our customers in control of their money.  The Howard Bank difference is the Hands On advice, knowledge, and expertise we provide to our clients.

As a community-oriented bank we understand the importance of giving back to the neighborhoods where our customers and employees work and live. From volunteer work in the community to supporting local nonprofit organizations and businesses, we make philanthropy a priority. As one of the most distinctive and foundational parts of the Howard identity, our dedication to the community is stronger than ever as we continue to grow.

As of March of 2018, Howard Bank has over $2 Billion in assets and has 21 branch locations up and down the I-95 corridor and around the I-695 beltway along with 10 dedicated mortgage offices and a commercial loan office in Delaware.

Howard Bank joined BLocal during year two of the initiative, following its merger with 1st Mariner Bank. Howard Bank will report on progress in 2018.

Howard Bank

Contact

Erica Starr
Estarr@howardbank.com
443-573-4839
3301 Boston Street
Baltimore, MD 21224