The Riverside Center for Innovation is one of ten nonprofit organizations in Greater Pittsburgh that received a portion of the $112,000 contribution as part of the Citizens Helping Citizens Manage Money financial literacy initiative.
Thanking the participants of the RCI BizFit program for their involvement, Juan Garrett announced that Citizens Bank provided RCI a $7,500 grant that will be used to assist with financial literacy classes. Garrett said the money will be utilized along with another sponsor to provide bonding education. “The bonding piece is needed to help your businesses grow down the road,” said Garrett, RCI’s executive director. He added that Citizens will be kicking off the classes around mid-May. He said that currently they’ve been involved with workshops dealing with access to capital.
Beth Crow, vice president and senior market manager at Citizens Bank, while congratulating the BizFit Tier 3 graduates, explained that the Citizens Helping Citizens Manage Money Initiative is part of its ongoing commitment to give consumers the confidence and tools they need to be fiscally healthy. She said nonprofit organizations from across the bank’s 11-state footprint were chosen in a competitive application process based on their track record of success providing financial education programs, clear and measurable goals for the program, and the ability to incorporate sustainability in their program plans.
The RCI application indicated they would utilize their funding for the construction entrepreneurial training classes, which prepare their clients with the tools needed to secure bonding insurance for their firms and to bid on construction opportunities projected at $8 billion in the Pittsburgh region over the next 10 years.
“We have a great working relationship with the Riverside Center. I’d often run into Juan who I have known for a great number of years and Judy and we’d say we have to do something together, and finally we get to do something together,” said Scott Brown, Citizens’ vice-president of community development and marketing management. “It is a pleasure to collaborate especially when it comes to financial literacy.”
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