Two Milwaukee banks will receive a total of $1.2 million to provide loans to small businesses and for affordable housing in low-income neighborhoods, according to a news release issued Thursday from U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee).
Legacy Bancorp Inc. and North Milwaukee State Bank will each receive $600,000 as part of the Bank Enterprise Award from the U.S. Treasury. The program is distributing $25 million based on lending and investment in areas where 30 percent of the population lives at or below the poverty level and where unemployment is 1.5 percent higher than the national average.
“It’s not news that people are struggling and Milwaukee is hurting,” Moore said in the release. “This will help lift up some of our city’s most distressed neighborhoods by leveraging private investment.”