Running the Numbers

• $1.1 Billion
  in total assets
• >60% of Loans
  in distressed areas
• 1.54%
  non-performing loans to total loans
• >67% of Borrowers
  are minorities and females
• 9.56%
  return on equity
• >50% of Loans
  less than $10,000
• $3 Billion
  in development loans since 1988

A YEAR OF COMMITMENT

Peer Comparison: Key Ratios

Running the Numbers

• $4.5 Million
  expected revenue in Phillips County
  each year from Civil War tourism
• 300 Jobs
  expected for Helena, AR as a result
  of the Civil War Helena plan
• 90,000 Tourists
  expected in Phillips County each
  year from Civil War tourism
• 27 Historic Sites
  to be developed as part of the
  Civil War Helena plan

CIVIL WAR HELENA: A CASE STUDY

CHALLENGES

In many rural communities, like Helena-West Helena, AR, job opportunities are rare. A common denominator amongst small towns is an aggressive outmigration of individuals and families, ultimately caused by a lack of employment prospects. A substantially reduced population bankrupts small business and deteriorates the tax base needed for adequate municipal services and quality education. The people who remain lose hope in their community, and the cycle of decline accelerates.

OPPORTUNITIES

Southern Bancorp seeks to create an environment conducive to meaningful employment for individuals and families. Southern believes in utilizing the resources and geographic sites within a community to produce sustainable job opportunities. A component of the Phillips County Tourism Strategy, illustrated in its Delta Bridge Project Strategic Plan, focuses on drawing visitors to Helena-West Helena’s rich Civil War history. A significant increase in tourists to Phillips County will create jobs within the community and stimulate its overall economy.

SOLUTIONS

Southern recognizes that no single program or effort can reduce unemployment. A balanced combination of the business, philanthropic, faith-based, civic and governmental sectors is necessary to achieve long-term employment opportunities and economic prosperity. The implementation of the Civil War Helena plan contributes to solutions for the economic decline and outmigration of Phillips County. Moreover, as we’ve seen with strong community engagement and development in Helena-West Helena, sometimes the answers we’re looking for are in our own backyard.

Civil War Helena is just one component of an effort to revitalize Phillips County. Other economic development successes include growth of the American Biofuels Company, expansion of the Sweet Potato Distribution Facility, revival of Phillips County Chamber of Commerce and launch of a successful business incubator.

COMMITTED TO EDUCATION

Southern Bancorp Value Proposition:

Running the Numbers

• 1,300 Students
  provided with high quality classroom space
  and education in Blytheville, Helena-West
  Helena, Jacksonville, and Little Rock.
• 75% of Students
  in 10th and 11th grade increased their
  ACT Prep scores after just one year of
  the Arkadelphia College Prep Academy
• 96%
  of KIPP graduates went on to college
• DOUBLE
  the number of college-ready high school
  seniors in Phillips County by 2013

Running the Numbers

• $1.8 Million
  in Earned Income Tax Credits for VITA clients
• 2,000+ Tax Returns
  filed free of charge for low-income individuals and families.
• $4 Million
  in total returns generated by VITA
• 152
  IDA asset purchases in 2010—a record number

INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT (IDA) Southern also reduces poverty and empowers families to build assets through Individual Development Accounts (IDA), essentially matched savings accounts. idas enable families to become homeowners, go to college or start a business. Many take advantage of homebuyer and credit counseling as well as other services to achieve their dreams of home ownership and economic well-being. The number of IDAs created in Arkansas and Mississippi skyrocketed within the past year. In 2010, IDA savers made 152 asset purchases—almost doubling the number from 2009. POWER TO CARE In addition to our direct services, Southern also administers Entergy Arkansas’s low income assistance grant fund, known as “Power to Care”. The program helps provide utility assistance for electric bills to Arkansas’ elderly or disabled citizens during the hot summer months. “Power to Care” processed 2,958 grants for Arkansas citizens throughout the state in 2010.

IDA Building communities. Changing lives. For people who qualify, the IDA program matches every $1 saved with $3 toward starting a business, homebuying, or education. The program also offers economic skills classes.

SOUTHERN GOOD FAITH FUND GOVERNING BOARD

SENIOR OFFICERS

STOCKHOLDERS

Southern Bancorp is proud to have been funded by a generous group of foundations, corporations, and individuals who believe in our mission. They invested in an idea of bringing economic opportunity to those who needed it most, without the expectation of any financial return.