Who says a bank can’t ‘do good.’ I was honored to stand with my friend Joseph Otting, CEO of OneWest Bank, as we opened our first HOPE Inside, Northridge location with OneWest Bank. It was a full house (and parking lot) for this opening of our first of close to a dozen locations to come with One West Bank.
The place was full of HOPE Inside success stories, mostly from our entrepreneurship and small business programs, but prospective home owners too, and those seeking to increase their credit scores through the HOPE 700 Credit Score Communities.
One West Bank has pledged to help Operation HOPE to stand up 100 new HOPE Inside locations throughout Southern California. So this is the first location of several to come. Stand by for more, but this first announcement is a big deal, and translates into real opportunity for real people in and throughout the Valley.
Some complain about what a bank does not do. This is an opportunity to commend them, around what they are doing.
The HOPE Inside model helps to move bankers from (many times) being forced to be in the ‘no business,’ to once again, being in the ‘yes’ business. I commend One West Bank for being in the ‘what we can do’ business.
Let’s go…
John Hope Bryant