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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowPittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group Inc., which acquired
Cleveland-based National City Corp. on Dec. 31 for $5.6 billion, has
committed to be the presenting sponsor of the Children’s Museum of
Indianapolis’ Haunted House for the next decade.
Financial terms of the sponsorship were not disclosed.
As part of the bank merger, PNC publicly pledged to donate $28 million
this year to the various communities where National City did business –
$5 million more than National City did.
PNC’s signature charitable program is an early childhood education
initiative called “Grow Up Great.” About half of the bank’s gifts are
associated with the initiative.
“Early childhood education is something we find very, very important,” PNC CEO Jim Rohr said in an interview with IBJ.
“If you look at [economics professor] Jim Heckman’s study from the
University of Chicago, for every dollar of early childhood education
that we spend, we reduce or save the society somewhere between $18 and
$27 in incarceration, rehabilitation and welfare,” Rohr said.
He said PNC gives money to early childhood education centers where its
employees volunteer. He said PNC has about 28,000 employees and 6,500
volunteers.
Rohr said PNC allows local bank presidents to determine charitable
priorities for their own communities. National City Indiana President
Steve Stitle, who PNC retained, has had a long affiliation with the
Children’s Museum as a board member and volunteer. Stitle spearheaded
PNC’s Children’s Museum sponsorship.
“It’s just a wonderful support for children’s education, and we
couldn’t have gotten that done before,” Stitle said. “Everybody’s been
very supportive. It’s just a perfect example of supporting youth in
this community.”
PNC previously did not have a central Indiana banking presence. Buying
National City gave it about 170 Indiana branches, including 75 in the
Indianapolis area. The banks has about 1,200 local employees and $4
billion in local deposits. It’s the second-biggest bank in the
Indianapolis area, behind Chase.
PNC plans to build on that base, but hasn’t yet announced details of its expansion plans.
The Children’s Museum has a $22.3 million annual budget, according to
its 2007 annual report. About 10 percent of its income is from
donations.
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