LANSING — State officials have announced financial support for an expansion of a Huntington Bank call center in Flint that will result in the creation of 60 new jobs and a $5.4 million investment.
The Huntington complex is on Saginaw Street across from the University of Michigan-Flint campus.
The Michigan Strategic Fund has approved a $450,000 performance-based grant to support the company’s commitment of the capital investment and creation of new jobs at the site.
Huntington’s venture in downtown Flint includes renovation to expand its call center at the former regional headquarters of FirstMerit, which the bank acquired in 2016. The 60 new positions are related to call center duties and commercial banking jobs. MSF’s incentive lowered the overall costs to below the level of relocating the call center at a competitive site in Ohio.
In addition to its current private investment, Huntington is reaching out to small business in Flint as part of Pure Michigan Micro Lending Initiative, which is available to business owners and entrepreneurs looking for funds to assist in locating or expanding their companies in the city.
The program lends from a few thousand dollars to $250,000 to businesses that are not eligible for traditional bank financing. (The $2 million program is administered by Metro Community Development.) Huntington has also pledged $20 million in Small Business Administration-backed lending to small businesses in Flint as part of a total $25 million economic development initiative in partnership with FlintNOW.