KeyBank Announces New Director of Community Development Norman Bliss

CLEVELAND, September 29, 2014 /3BL Media/ – Today, KeyBank (NYSE:KEY) announced the appointment of Norman Bliss senior vice president and director of community development in the Corporate Responsibility segment at KeyBank. In his new role, Bliss will lead the oversight of the bank’s Community Development lending, investment, and service activities nationwide, particularly as they pertain to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) exam.

The CRA requires banks to meet the banking needs of low- to moderate-income communities across America, and the CRA exam assesses how well a bank’s lending, investment, and services activities do so. By listening closely to the needs of its communities, especially the most vulnerable, KeyBank has been able to develop unique solutions for consumers and neighborhoods. Specifically, KeyBank’s Community Development Lending segment partners with developers to bring affordable housing and other construction and renovation projects to economically disadvantaged areas. Last year, KeyBank had $2.9 billion in debt and equity financing extended to developments in underserved communities, including the construction of more than 119,000 affordable housing units. Bliss will oversee the continued development and assessment of this and other programs aimed at stabilizing and revitalizing vulnerable communities.

"We are very excited to have Norman join our team,” said Bruce Murphy, executive vice president and head of Corporate Responsibility at KeyBank. "His extensive experience in not only managing and directing CRA programs, but developing strategies for proactive community development, is invaluable. Norman’s deep expertise will help us ensure that we are productively engaging with and providing responsible services to all of KeyBank’s customers and communities."

Bliss brings nearly 25 years of banking examination experience to his position at KeyBank. Prior to joining KeyBank, he served as senior vice president and manager at First Merit Corporation, where he was responsible for all aspects of the organization’s corporate CRA program. He is the past president of the Shaker Heights Board of Education where he also served two elected terms as board member. He has also held vice president positions at both First Merit Corporation and Premier Bank & Trust, with both positions focused on managing CRA compliance programs. Bliss also spent five years as a bank examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland, where his duties included participating in Compliance, CRA and Safety and Soundness examinations.

Bliss earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Howard University. He also holds a Housing Development Finance Professional Certification and is a graduate of the National Community Development Lending School. Additionally, Bliss is a Board member of both the Cleveland Housing Network and the East Akron Community Development Corporation, and he sits on the Consumer Bankers Association CRA Committee.

"I am extremely pleased to be joining an organization where the commitment to communities is so deeply engrained in the corporate culture," Bliss said. "I look forward to helping KeyBank maintain an open dialogue with community advocates and developing programs that help the communities we serve to thrive."

In 2013, Key achieved the highest recognition from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) when it earned its eighth consecutive “Outstanding” rating for exceeding the terms of the Community Reinvestment Act, becoming the only top 25 national bank in the U.S. to earn this distinction. To learn more about Key’s approach to responsible banking, citizenship, and operations, please visit www.key.com/CR2031.
 

About KeyCorp
KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) was organized more than 160 years ago and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. One of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, Key has assets of approximately $92 billion. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management and investment services to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses under the name of KeyBank N.A. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information on how clients turn To Key, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.