Jim Peterson, M&T Bank | Financial Resources for MBEs

The key to a successful banking relationship is to build trust with the bank. This can be difficult for minority-owned businesses, but it is not impossible. First and foremost, you should establish a personal connection with your bank manager or banker. Before starting this relationship, you should also be honest about your business goals and financial status. Once you’ve built a strong personal connection with your banker, you should consider building a strong relationship across multiple channels instead of just one-on-one meetings. This will help ensure that they are aware of what’s happening in your business and will help them identify opportunities for your company and challenges that need to be addressed. Get these and many more nuggets in today’s episode with Jim Peterson.

Jim Peterson is the V.P. and Small Business Ambassador on the Minority and Women-Owned Businesses team for M&T Bank. In that role, he focuses on the engagement, education, and empowerment of minority and women-owned businesses. Learn about Mr. Peterson’s journey into banking, the greatest need for MBEs at this point in the pandemic, the importance of generational wealth and resources that M&T Bank provides for its customers, and so much more.

Tune in!

Here’s What You’ll Get In This Episode

[00:55] Episode intro and a quick bio of today’s guest

[05:22] A bit about Jim’s backstory & how he got into what he does in his space

[08:36] The greatest existing need for minority businesses in the Covid environments

[12:05] Tips for building strong banking relationships as a minority business owner

[14:09] A bit about the 0-100 Baltimore Business Accelerator Program

[17:08] How you can find out more about this 10-week boot camp Business Accelerator 

[18:18] Impact of generational wealth on black-owned businesses

[20:42] Golden nuggets you should understand about financing

[23:36] Kinds of things he pays attention to in his investment role

[26:21] Things to keep in mind if you aspire to sell your business in the future

[28:05] Ending the show and call to action

Notable Quotes

• You need a mentor or someone who has gone down the road you wish to take to show you how to navigate the trials and tribulations.
• Every business relationship is important to the bank. They will want to make sure that you are happy.
• Business owners who didn’t give up during the pandemic will do better in business.

Connect with Jim Peterson

Website: https://www3.mtb.com/