The Harbor Bank of Maryland held an exclusive celebration and discussion with funk legend and Afrofuturist pioneer George Clinton at the bank’s new branch on Wednesday evening.
Themed “On the Move: An Evening with George Clinton and HBM,” the special event featured the exhibition of the Thangularity Mothership, an original art piece by the Parliament Funkadelic bandleader and his longtime collaborator Overton Loyd, followed by a candid conversation between Clinton and Harbor Bank President & CEO John Lewis.
The sculpture will be permanently displayed at Harbor Bank’s new downtown Silver Spring branch, which recently opened next to Java Nation in the Station Square office complex located at 1010 Wayne Avenue.
“As we expand into the Silver Spring market with our seventh branch, this moment represents more than just brick and mortar; it’s about access, visibility, and creating a financial home for a new wave of customers and communities,” Lewis said. “It’s only fitting that we celebrate with a visionary like George Clinton, whose work has always pushed boundaries, uplifted voices, and looked forward to a brighter future.”
The Baltimore-based Harbor Bank of Maryland first opened its doors in 1982 with $2.1 million in assets and has served as a pillar in the Black community for more than 40 years.
Now holding more than $400 million in assets today, the bank is a community development financial institution that is well known for working with minority-owned small and midsize businesses, including small businesses, first-time homebuyers, and churches that do not qualify for conventional loans.
The new downtown Silver Spring branch joins the Baltimore-based bank’s loan production office that opened at the Station Square office complex in 2018.
“One of the great things about Harbor Bank is it was born out of a need,” Lewis said to AFRO News in 2023. “The work that we’ve always done has resulted from our clients and the communities who we serve literally asking for us to be there to provide products and services that they couldn’t readily access.
“At the time of Harbor Bank’s establishment, [African Americans] did not have broader participation and access into mainstream financial services,” Lewis added.
In addition to its retail banking and loan operations, Harbor Bank CDC supports small real estate developers through its Emerging Developer Program and provides entrepreneurship resources, including speaker series, workshops, and co-working space at the Joseph Haskins Jr. Center for Community Economic Development.
The bank recently partnered with Affordable Homes & Communities and Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland to open the Allium Place multifamily development that brings together 168 affordable apartments and 27 Habitat for Humanity homes on Gannon Road.
“It’s the relationships that unlock the potential to do amazing things, and if you think about the historical experience of African Americans and banks with redlining and discrimination, those things challenge trust and the depth of those relationships,” Lewis said. “When somebody walks in our door, I know that they are expressing their hopes and dreams to me— whether we’re talking about buying a house, buying a commercial property or starting a business. It’s incredibly meaningful to them and what they’ll do in the rest of their lives.”
A public grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Harbor Bank branch in downtown Silver Spring will take place on September 23.
Photos Courtesy of The Harbor Bank of Maryland
