J.P Morgan has added $50 million to finance the revitalization of Detroit.
And this time, more of the capital will be commercial, rather than the subsidized capital that comprised most of the bank’s $100 million commitment in 2014.
CEO James Dimon said he has been encouraged by how quickly its first round of loans was being repaid. Much of the new investment will be focused on the city’s neighborhoods, which haven’t participated in the building boom in Detroit’s downtown core.
The $50 million commitment will back investment in small businesses and neighborhood development projects. J.P. Morgan’s first round of capital — a mix of grants and loans — was a rare source of private investment in the Motor City after it declared its $18 billion municipal bankruptcy.
“When we started three years ago, most of the projects we were investing in were subsidized capital,” J.P. Morgan’s Peter Scher told The Wall Street Journal.
“By late 2015, that changed to market capital,” he added.
Dimon writes about the role of private enterprise for the public good, and J.P. Morgan’s Detroit investments, in a new post for a series from this year’s Milken Institute Global Conference. “By harnessing the unique capabilities of the private sector, alongside the nonprofit and public sectors, I believe we can drive the change at the scale and pace our communities deserve,” writes Dimon. More here:
The Essential Role Private Enterprise Plays for the Public Good
