Covington leaders participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony for the grand opening of the First Financial Community on the corner of 6th and Madison. Photo by Kenton Hornbeck.

First Financial Bank has officially cut the ribbon for their grand opening of their new First Financial Community at 6th and Madison in Covington.

The ceremony will include leadership from First Financial, the City of Covington, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and other civic and business leaders from the region. The celebration Tuesday included donations from First Financial totaling $16,000 for Northern Kentucky nonprofit organizations.

“First Financial exists to be a positive influence and to help our clients and communities thrive,” said Archie Brown, president and CEO of First Financial Bank. “We are very pleased to be here in Covington. Our 6th & Madison financial center will be a cornerstone of business engagement and financial growth for entrepreneurs, business leaders and families throughout Northern Kentucky.”

This new center, at 601 Madison Ave., serves as First Financial’s official Northern Kentucky headquarters.

The headquarters features over 1,000 square feet of event space, extensive audio-visual capabilities, and smaller meeting areas.

“The new First Financial Community project features much of what makes Covington’s urban core such a vibrant place: adaptive reuse and renovation of a historic building, evolving technology, a corporate citizen that cares about the community in which it ‘lives,’ and a multi-million-dollar investment in services catering not only to our existing local economy but also to the future financial growth of our people and businesses,” Covington Mayor Joe Meyer said. “And the highly visible corner of Sixth and Madison is the perfect place for all of this to come together. Thank you to First Financial.”

First Financial provides clients with multiple consumer and commercial banking functions, along with lending, wealth, and financial wellness advisory services at 6th & Madison, positioning the bank well to build on its successful track record of driving economic growth in Northern Kentucky.

To celebrate the occasion, First Financial is providing $1,000 grants to 16 different nonprofits from Northern Kentucky. These include the Brighton Center, YMCA of Greater Cincinnati, Aviatra Accelerators, Be Concerned, Catalytic Development Funding Corp. of Northern Kentucky, Horizon Community Funds of Northern Kentucky, Master Provisions, Learning Grove, Welcome House of Northern Kentucky, Housing Opportunities of Northern Kentucky, Life Learning Center, The Ion Center, NKY Community Action Commission, Renaissance Covington, Northern Kentucky NAACP and Covington Business Council.

“We are proud to support these organizations who are working closely together with First Financial to help the entire Northern Kentucky region thrive,” said Roddell McCullough, chief corporate responsibility officer for First Financial Bank. “Just as 6th & Madison is a great environment for business innovation, we also hope it will serve as a creativity hub for these organizations to lift the entire Northern Kentucky community.”

Community and civic organizations and non-profit groups are especially encouraged to use the spaces at 6th & Madison and can do so free of charge.

Kenton is a reporter for LINK nky. Email him at khornbeck@linknky.com Twitter.