CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Exelon arranged $123 million in credit lines with 28 community and minority-owned banks in Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, reinforcing the company’s commitment to invest in the communities it serves. The minority and community banking program provides Exelon subsidiaries BGE, ComEd, PECO and Exelon Generation with additional sources of credit at competitive prices, while participating banks benefit from having increased deposits and assets with which to serve their communities.
“Experience has taught us that both Exelon and the communities we serve benefit when we embrace diversity and inclusiveness,” said Jonathan W. Thayer, senior executive vice president and CFO of Exelon. “This program is another example of how we can help communities through smart investment, while at the same time giving us financial flexibility and providing support to the banks that serve the communities where we live and work.”
Exelon’s minority and community banking program began in 2003 and remains unique in the energy industry. Administered by JP Morgan Chase since its inception, the program has more than tripled in credit facility size and quadrupled the number of participating banks. The four lead credit arrangers for 2015 are the United Bank of Philadelphia, Seaway Bank and Trust Company, Illinois Bank & Trust in Illinois and The Harbor Bank of Maryland.
“Illinois Bank & Trust is honored to be selected as one of the lead banks in Illinois to facilitate credit arrangements for Exelon,” said Illinois Bank & Trust’s President and CEO Steve Ward. “We work hard to offer lending to a diverse range of businesses -- large and small -- and to find the best avenue for each customer. We appreciate Exelon’s business and the resulting partnerships developed in our Northern Illinois region.”
As part of its business strategy to advance diversity and inclusion, Exelon also maintains partnerships with minority and women-owned investment firms. Exelon currently has approximately $1.8 billion of pension, employee savings plan and retiree healthcare assets invested with 18 diverse investment firms.
Exelon has a demonstrated commitment to supplier diversity throughout its business and has made it a critical part of the company’s overall supply chain strategy. Exelon’s corporate spending with diversity-certified businesses reached more than $1.1 billion in 2014.
Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC) is the nation’s leading competitive energy provider, with 2014 revenues of approximately $27.4 billion. Headquartered in Chicago, Exelon does business in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Exelon is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with more than 32,000 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company’s Constellation business unit provides energy products and services to more than 2.5 million residential, public sector and business customers, including more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100. Exelon’s utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to more than 7.8 million customers in central Maryland (BGE), northern Illinois (ComEd) and southeastern Pennsylvania (PECO). Follow Exelon on Twitter @Exelon.
