Today we’d like to introduce you to Ron Brooks. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Ron’s banking career has spanned several financial institutions in the Memphis market, beginning in the management trainee program at Regions Bank and progressing with successful Chairman’s Club performance in retail administration, commercial banking, business banking, and CRA investing. In 2021, he joined Community Lift affiliate River City Capital as President in a role Ron feels is custom-tailored to him. With a mission of attracting, leveraging, and deploying loan capital to black, indigenous, and women owned small businesses in the Memphis area, Ron leads a dedicated team focused on providing funding and technical assistance support that provides a clearer lane for small businesses to thrive while edifying the community overall.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Certainly not smooth! I endured obstacles of being a black man in a white man dominated industry such as banking, a tough layoff that challenged me personally and professionally, and the unfortunately typical challenges of growing up in Memphis and the distractions that often hinder development.
As you know, we’re big fans of River City Capital Investment Corp. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
River City is the only homegrown and black led CDFI (community development financial institution) in Memphis. We exist to attract, leverage, and deploy loan capital to black, indigenous, and women owned small businesses here in Shelby County. What sets us apart is our dedicated team focused on our mission, and as a result our underwriting criteria for business loans is more custom tailored for today’s minority business owner versus what is common from the traditional banking channel. Part of our strategic goal in 2022 is to grow our small business loan fund from $2.5M to $10M, resulting in increased capacity and increased deployment of more loan funds with reduced barriers.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Absolutely, I’ve learned that in the face of such an impactful challenge that people are very resilient and will find a way to achieve their goals. This is no different than the small business owner and entrepreneur, who by definition take risks everyday to make things happen in a positive fashion. The pandemic has highlighted a very important area for me. We all have three things in common. Those three things are we all want to be a little better for ourselves, for our families, and for our communities. We may not always agree on the pathway or pathways to get there of course. However we all have that common desire, and the pandemic I believe has engaged people to think more holistic. Minus the polarization and political nature that often the pandemic has been placed in, people everyday are discovering that valuing the things that really matter in life is paramount.
Contact Info:
- Email: ron@rivercitycapital.org
- Website: www.rivercitycapital.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RiverCityCapitalInvestment
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RCCInvestment?s=20
