Beneficial State Bank
Beneficial State Bank, formerly One PacificCoast Bank, is a state chartered bank headquartered in Oakland, California with branches in California, Oregon and Washington. Founded in 2007, Beneficial State is a new kind of bank that offers customers the tools they need to build something beautiful. The bank’s commercial loans, transactional services and financial assistance are designed to serve businesses and nonprofits that are committed to building prosperity for our local communities and our environment, as well as individuals and families in need. A certified B Corporation, Beneficial State’s ownership structure is truly unique to the banking Industry; the bank is owned by a nonprofit organization, Beneficial State Foundation. When profits of the Bank are distributed, they can only be distributed to the Foundation, which is mandated to reinvest those proceeds back into the low-income communities we serve and environment upon which we depend.
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Yesterday, the CDFI Fund released the FY2021 Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) award announcement, awarding over $336 million to 32 CDFIs and 27 Nonprofit Housing Organizations. This year: Three CDFI banks or bank holding companies and one CDFI bank affiliate received awards: Beneficial State Bancorp, Inc.; Central Bank of Kansas City; City First Enterprises, Inc.; and Legacy Bank & Trust Company; of the three CDFI banks or bank holding companies and one CDFI bank affiliate, all were either CDBA members or affiliated with a CDBA member; collectively, these banks increased their awards by $4.9 million over their previous award amounts; a total of 146 organizations applied for the FY2021 round requesting more than $991 million in CMF awards. Of those applicants, three were banks or thrifts and two were depository institution holding companies.
Unions are rare in financial services, but there are exceptions, including Amalgamated Bank in New York, which was founded by a labor union in 1923. The $870 million-asset Bank of Labor in Kansas City, Kansas, was founded by a labor union in 1924 and has been affiliated with the United Mine Workers of America since August 2011. A more recent example is Beneficial State Bank in Oakland, California, where employees voted to form a union in March 2020 after CWA representatives approached the $1.5 billion-asset bank’s executives about the possibility of forming a labor organization for staff. The bank agreed upon a finalized contract last September. “I think the biggest thing was that people [were] not being listened to and our experiences not taken into account on how to be treated,” said Michelle Hunt, a relationship banker at Beneficial. After signing, the bank instituted changes in its minimum wage, training, retirement programs and more. It also created a labor-management committee to give union members a forum for voicing concerns and suggesting changes.
For their fourth annual ranking of top impact companies, Real Leaders recognizes the rise in purpose-driven businesses by expanding their Real Leaders Impact Awards list to our biggest yet with 200 winners! Included are a diverse group of companies from around the world that prove that businesses can thrive and help build a better world. Included among the winners are CDBA members Beneficial State Bank and Sunrise Banks.