Birmingham’s Regions Bank is launching a new program to help Black-owned businesses in the Magic City.

The Birmingham Black-Owned Business Initiative will improve access to funding and mentorship with the idea of nurturing and strengthening Black businesses, the company said. It will also improve those businesses access to other resources and networking.

Kendra Key, who recently joined Regions as senior vice president in the bank’s Community Affairs division, will lead the initiative.

According to the Brookings Institution, the Birmingham area is dead last among 53 large U.S. metro areas for Black business ownership of companies large enough to have a workforce. This comes at the same time Black neighborhoods with moderate income levels are seeing a surge in new business startups.

Key said the initiative’s goal is to help “create a best-in-class Black business ecosystem” for Birmingham.

“We have an entrepreneurial spirit, enthusiastic community partners, and higher engagement from the existing business community that recognizes the importance of a stronger Black-owned business climate,” Key said.

Key, a former attorney at Maynard Cooper & Gale, has legal and financial experience in community development initiatives, including tax credit financing, opportunity zones, real estate and commercial banking. A graduate of Vanderbilt’s law school and the University of Alabama, she previously served as head of minority depository institution engagement for Citigroup.

Prosper President J.W. Carpenter said the organization’s Magic City Match program showed that Black-owned businesses are ready to grow and succeed. Prosper is the community coalition formed in 2021 focused on equitable economic growth.

“We appreciate the leadership position Regions is taking and cannot think of a better person than Kendra to lead this work,” Carpenter said. “As a Prosper Board member, Kendra has already had a tremendous influence on Prosper’s work, and this has the potential to make a generational impact for entrepreneurs and families across our city. We are excited to partner with her and with Regions.”