Pinnacle Announces Opening of Economic Empowerment Resource Center in Durham

PEER Center to provide community with financial education and support

Pinnacle Financial Partners has announced the opening of its newest Pinnacle Economic Empowerment Resource (PEER) Center, in Durham. Expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2024, the PEER Center will be a local hub for Durham community members in need of financial services and uplift and will be dedicated to helping improve economic equity and shared prosperity. 

Pinnacle opened its first PEER Center in 2022 in Memphis, TN. PEER Centers are full-service banking offices offering a complete line of financial products and services to historically underserved and underbanked communities. Firmwide, Pinnacle operates PEER Centers in Memphis and Nashville, with plans to open more in 2024 in Durham, Atlanta and Charlotte. The Durham location will be located at 3807 North Duke Street.

“Part of our mission at Pinnacle is to make a significant positive impact on the communities we serve, and a large part of that is building inclusive economic opportunity,” said Kim Graham, Pinnacle community development officer. “Through our PEER Centers, we establish essential local hubs that provide tailored support to empower individuals on their journey for financial independence. We’re fighting for economic equity by prioritizing education, coaching and accessible financial services. It’s intentional work we can do to help ensure everyone can take part in our region’s growing economy.”

Because of Pinnacle’s geographic model of local leadership and decision-making, the Durham PEER Center’s offerings will be customized to meet the specific needs of the community. Offerings will include financial education and coaching, personal financial planning, affordable homeownership, and small-business startup and growth. Along with all traditional banking services, the PEER Center will offer specialized lending designed for people living with low to moderate incomes and/or in minority communities.

In addition, the PEER Center will build and strengthen nonprofit partnerships in the local area. The Durham location is working with community organizations to establish partnerships to provide not only financial education and services, but workforce development, family services, youth services, social change and business training. Nonprofit partners will be able to use the space to offer services, classes or workspace. 

In its recent Corporate Social Responsibility Report, Pinnacle reported having $1.74 billion committed to investments and lending for low- to moderate-income housing, small businesses and minority-owned institutions, as well as grants to nonprofits. This includes $361 million in investments to create more than 4,600 units of affordable rental housing and $213 million in accessible home loans. Altogether in 2023, Pinnacle associates spent 33,643 hours volunteering for local causes.

Pinnacle Financial Partners provides a full range of banking, investment, trust, mortgage and insurance products and services designed for businesses and their owners and individuals interested in a comprehensive relationship with their financial institution. The firm is the No. 1 bank in the Nashville-Murfreesboro-Franklin MSA, according to 2022 deposit data from the FDIC, and is listed by Forbes as No. 27 among America’s Best Banks, higher than any other bank headquartered in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia. Pinnacle also earned a spot on the 2023 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For^® in the U.S., its seventh consecutive appearance, and was recognized by American Banker as one of America’s Best Banks to Work For 10 years in a row and No. 1 among banks with more than $11 billion in assets in 2022.

Pinnacle entered the North Carolina market in 2017 when it acquired BNC Bancorp, offering community bank service with the resources and sophistication of a larger firm. Pinnacle is ranked as the No. 1 workplace in the Triad, Triangle and Charlotte markets, as listed by the Triad Business Journal, Triangle Business Journal and Charlotte Observer.

The firm began operations in a single location in downtown Nashville, TN, in October 2000 and has since grown to approximately $48.0 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2023. As the second-largest bank holding company headquartered in Tennessee, Pinnacle operates in 17 primarily urban markets across the Southeast.  

Additional information concerning Pinnacle, which is included in the Nasdaq Financial-100 Index, can be accessed at www.pnfp.com.