Allocation among more than $3.5 billion in credits awarded by CDFI Fund
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. – Southern Bancorp Bank announced today that it had been selected by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) to receive $50 million in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to attract private capital investment into rural and underserved communities in Arkansas and Mississippi. Over 200 applicants requested allocations, with 76 “Community Development Entities” being selected. The allocation from the CDFI Fund totals more than $3.5 billion.
“The CDFI Fund’s New Markets Tax Credit Program is a powerful vehicle for taking private investment capital and turning it into community impact,” said Darrin Williams, Southern Bancorp, Inc. CEO. “Southern Bancorp has a proven track record of putting investor equity to work in some of the Mid-South’s most financially underserved neighborhoods, and this tax credit allocation will bolster those efforts and allow us to reach even more communities in need.”
The New Markets Tax Credit Program, established by Congress in December 2000, permits individual and corporate taxpayers to receive a non-refundable tax credit against federal income taxes for making equity investments in financial intermediaries known as Community Development Entities (CDEs). CDEs that receive the tax credit allocation authority under the program are domestic corporations or partnerships that provide loans, investments, or financial counseling in low-income urban and rural communities. The tax credit provided to the investor totals 39% of the cost of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year period. The CDEs in turn use the capital raised to make investments in low-income communities.
To learn more about the New Markets Tax Credit Program and this year’s awardees, please visit www.cdfifund.gov/nmtc.
About Southern Bancorp
Southern Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company; Southern Bancorp Community Partners, a 501(c)(3) development finance and lending organization; and Southern Bancorp Bank, one of America’s largest rural development banks; were founded in 1986 by a group of business, political and philanthropic leaders who were concerned about the economic decline of rural Arkansas. All three entities are U.S. Treasury certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) collectively known as “Southern.” With $1.5 billion in assets, 65,000 customers and 48 locations in Arkansas and Mississippi, Southern invests in people and businesses in rural communities; empowers them to improve their lives; and helps them transform their communities. Southern is a Certified B Corp, Benefit Corporation, and proud member of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values. Learn more about Southern on the web at www.banksouthern.com & www.southernpartners.org.