Mechanics and Farmers Bank
Mechanics and Farmers Bank was chartered in 1907 by a group of nine prominent black North Carolina businessmen who hoped to meet the needs of the state's underserved black community. Today, M&F Bank's employees carry on that tradition, providing quality service to all customers and promoting personal and community development with an attitude of appreciation and respect.
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Durham, N.C. was once known nationally for its "Black Wall Street," a cluster of flourishing black-owned financial institutions and businesses. In the 1960s that energy dissipated in the wake of urban development, but still the city held on to a large number of black owned businesses. Now, propelled by a national fellowship program, the city of Durham is building a plan and a set of tools to help preserve black-owned businesses in the face of an aging baby boomer generation, a new knowledge economy, and 21st-century business model shifts that traditional entrepreneurs may ignore.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, African Americans built a successful business community in Durham, North Carolina. Durham's Black Wall Street flourished, becoming home to some of the most influential minority-owned businesses in the country, including Mechanics and Farmers Bank, the second-oldest minority-owned bank in the United States. Today, black-owned businesses are continuing to thrive. According to the US Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners, black-owned firms make up more than a quarter of all companies in Durham, nearly twice the percentage of black-owned firms in North Carolina as a whole.
The 109-year-old M & F Bank has long served as a catalyst for community economic development in Durham, North Carolina. Building off the bank's long-standing history, President & CEO James Sills discusses future opportunities for growth and diversification, positioning the bank to remain as an industry leader throughout the 21st century.