From The St. Louis Journal
By Greg Edwards
– Reporter, St. Louis Business Journal
Citi is expanding its businesses in St. Louis with plans to hire more than 100 employees, adding to the 2,300 it already has in O’Fallon, Missouri.
The positions to be hired are primarily in mortgage and wealth management, said Heather Kellogg, St. Louis president and head of home lending sales strategies and execution. Citi has no target date for completing the hires.
With mortgage lending through the roof as a result of low interest rates, lenders have been hiring. For example, national lender AmeriSave Mortgage Corp., based in Atlanta, said earlier this year it plans to hire 250 to 300 employees in St. Louis.
Rick Bagy, president of Central Bank of St. Louis, said his mortgage business is at an all-time high, “almost triple the volume of a good 2019.”
As a result, the competition for mortgage lenders is keen. “The St. Louis area is a great source of talent,” Kellogg said.
Separately, Citi said Thursday it is providing $15 million to support 30 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) nationwide serving small businesses owned by people of color and households most impacted by the coronavirus. St. Louis’ Justine Petersen, which provides capital, loans and other financial services to minority-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs, is one of them and will receive $500,000. The money is from Citi’s initial net proceeds from its participation in the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
“By investing — and trusting — in these change agents on the frontlines, we’re helping these organizations to pivot, adjust and expand to address evolving needs and meet clients where they are,” said Brandee McHale, head of community investing and development and president of Citi Foundation.