LITTLE ROCK, ARK. – Southern Bancorp, Inc., holding company of Southern Bancorp Bank, one of the nation’s largest community development banks, has been awarded $950,000 from the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI Fund for its work serving rural and financially underserved communities in the Mid-South. The award will be used by Southern Bancorp to increase economic investment activity in low-income and economically distressed communities in Arkansas and Mississippi.
“We are honored to once again receive a financial award from the CDFI Fund acknowledging our efforts to bring economic opportunity to some of the nation’s most underserved communities,” said Darrin Williams, CEO of Southern Bancorp, Inc.
Since 1996, Southern Bancorp organizations have received a total of 20 financial awards from the CDFI Fund, totaling nearly $19 million. This year the CDFI Fund awarded a total of $165 million in Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance to 264 organizations in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
“This award will allow us to further our impact in communities by helping families attain affordable housing, supporting entrepreneurs as they create and protect jobs, and empowering individuals to save and build assets to increase their economic mobility – each being part of our effort to be wealth builders for everyone in the community,” said Williams.
To learn more about Southern Bancorp, visit www.BankSouthern.com. To learn more about the CDFI Fund and its financial award program, visit www.cdfifund.gov.
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 America. All three entities are U.S. Treasury certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) collectively known as “Southern.” With $1.3 billion in assets, 50,000 customers and 45 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. Learn more at www.banksouthern.com.
About the CDFI Fund
Since its creation in 1994, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $3 billion to CDFIs, community development organizations, and financial institutions through: the BEA Program; the Capital Magnet Fund, the Community Development Financial Institutions Program, including the Healthy Food Financing Initiative; the Financial Education and Counseling Pilot Program; and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program. In addition, the CDFI Fund has allocated $54 billion in tax credit allocation authority to Community Development Entities through the New Markets Tax Credit Program, and closed guaranteed bonds in the amount of $1.36 billion through the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. Learn more about the CDFI Fund and its programs at www.cdfifund.gov.