JPMorgan Chase Opens First Retail Branch in Greater Washington, Announces Higher Local Wages and New Community Investments

Earlier this year, the firm announced it would open 70 new branches, hire 700 new employees, commit $4 billion to regional home and small business lending and $500 million to affordable rental housing and $25 million in philanthropy to drive inclusive regional economic growth.

Specifically, today, the firm is:

• Opening the first retail branch in Greater Washington at McPherson Square in Washington, D.C., offering a sneak peak of the new Anacostia location to community partners, and said it will open a total of six new branches by the end of the year,
• Making a $1.6 million philanthropic investment to support underserved areas in the region,
• Hiring 80 new employees by the end of the year, and
• Increasing local wages to no less than $18/hour, up from $16.50/hour.

“Greater Washington is a great place to live and do business. We’re incredibly excited to open our first branch in the region,” said Peter Scher, Chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Region and Global Head of Corporate Responsibility, JPMorgan Chase. “As the region continues its extraordinary growth, we want to play our part in creating economic opportunity for more people here.”

Greater Washington Branch Openings

By the end of the 2018, Chase branches will have opened at six locations including 1401 New York Avenue NW (McPherson Square), 2200 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE (Anacostia), 3100 14th Street NW (Columbia Heights), 3900 Minnesota Avenue NE (Ward 7/Benning), 1111 New Jersey Avenue SE (Navy Yard/Capital Riverfront), and 2825 Wilson Blvd (Clarendon) in Arlington.

At least 20 percent of new Chase branches will be built in low and moderate income communities including Wards 7 & 8 in Washington, D.C., Prince George’s County, and neighborhoods in Baltimore.

Supporting the Community and Employees

Each new Greater Washington branch will employ seven to nine employees, including bankers, tellers and branch managers.  Entry-level employees in each branches will be paid no less than $18.00/hour and will receive the firm’s full benefits package, which is valued at an average of $12,000 annually per employee in this pay range. It includes health care coverage and retirement savings, as well. To help ease the burden of out-of-pocket medical expenses, the firm also recently reduced medical plan deductibles by $750 per year for employees making less than $60,000.

“We are so proud that our branches are now a part of the Greater Washington community, such an important region in the country, and to be able to help more of our customers here,” said Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO of Chase Consumer Banking. “Our branches are all about people, from our customers to our employees. We’ve designed these new branches to be a reflection of the communities they’ll serve.”

To help design and build the new branches, JPMorgan Chase partnered with local, community based vendors and small businesses to ensure a diverse set of suppliers were engaged. 

Additionally, the firm teamed up with Arts on the Block, a nonprofit that works with middle and high school youth, to create works of art inspired by local neighborhoods. Built through a series of mosaic tiles, these art apprentices created and installed murals in and outside of the three new branches in Benning, Anacostia and Shaw. Gaining real world design experience throughout the process, the apprentices met with the local community members to explore the rich history, diversity and cultural meanings of each neighborhood to come up with a unique design pattern for each space.

The McPherson Square branch is also home to a brick wall that was transferred from the remains of an historic Baltimore row house to the new branch in downtown Washington.

Investing in Economic Opportunity

JPMorgan Chase is investing $25 million to drive more inclusive regional growth. Specifically, as part of the $1.6 million philanthropic investment announced today, the firm will help people develop the skills they need to secure in-demand jobs, help minority-owned businesses expand, revitalize neighborhoods and improving consumer financial health.

• Washington Area Community Investment Fund (WACIF) ($200,000): As part of its ASCEND Capital Accelerator 2.0 WACIF will provide 18-22 minority and women-owned small to mid-sized businesses in the construction industry with technical assistance and tailored loan products to assist in developing new business. 
• Urban Ed ($150,000/1 year): UrbanEd, located in Anacostia, will provide approximately sixty participants with career coaching, technical training in IT and cybersecurity, as well as job placement to STEMAcad students in Ward 7 & 8 in Washington, D.C. 
• Capital Impact Partners (CIP) ($75,000/6 months): CIP will develop a multi-year program that provides the foundation for providing capital and capacity building to minority small business owners in Greater Washington. 
• Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. ($200,000/2 years): This initiative works with the faith community to create or preserve 250 affordable housing units through development, organizational capacity building and one-on-one technical assistance. Working in LMI communities, the group works to remove barriers to accessing affordable housing and enhance overall outcomes for those in need.
• Latino Economic Development Corporation of Washington DC (LEDC) ($200,000/1 year):   LEDC will provide technical assistance and access to capital for approximately 20 small businesses in the commercial corridors in Wards 7 and 8 as a part of the ASCEND 2020 team. The support is designed to protect LMI business owners from displacement due to development in Wards 7 and 8.
• Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development (CNHED) ($717,000/2 years): Three separate commitments to CNHED aim to connect LMI residents to economic and affordable housing opportunities through the Mayor’s Landlord Fund, which included furthering best practices with Houston based- Corporation for Supportive Housing ($12,000) as well as working with universities and hospitals to increase the rate at which they contract and hire minority owned firms.
• Leadership Edge ($50,000): JPMorgan Chase offered the firm’s in-house leadership training, Leadership Edge, to local nonprofits as part of a broader effort to strengthen nonprofit capacity. Washington, D.C. is the second city, after Chicago, to pilot the program.

“When we give our residents the skills and opportunities they need to get well-paying jobs, we reduce the likelihood that they’ll move out of the communities where they want to live,” said Roxanne J. Williams, President, UrbanEd. “As JPMorgan Chase grows in the Greater Washington region, it’s good to know they want the whole community to grow with them, and I’m proud to partner with them to help train a stronger and better workforce in Ward 7 & 8.”

Commitment to Greater Washington

JPMorgan Chase has been doing business in the Greater Washington region since 1999 and this expansion means the firm will open up to 70 new branches and hire up to 700 new employees.

JPMorgan Chase currently serves more than 2 million consumers and over 70,000 business clients in Greater Washington. In addition to offering local customers access to its award-winning banking services supporting job and local economic growth, JPMorgan Chase will bring the best of its business and philanthropic efforts to drive inclusive growth and help create opportunity for more area residents.