Larry Denson of Hoffinger Industries. Watch their video on page 11.
MISSION NEWS FA L L 2 0 1 4
Table of
CONTENTS 3 From our Leadership 4-9 Southern Highlights 4 ..... One Southern. One Mission. 6 ..... Growing Our Impact 8 ..... Creating Jobs 9 ..... Leadership Changes 10 Banking on a Mission 12 Employee Spotlight 13 In the News
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From our
LEADERSHIP
Darrin Williams Southern Bancorp, Inc. CEO It’s an exciting time for Southern Bancorp. In communities around the South, we are actively helping build net worth through an array of products and services that meet the unique financial needs required of today’s rural businesses and families. Our community investment projects are contributing to sustainable job creation in some of the country’s most impoverished regions, and our innovative approaches to banking in rural America are garnering national attention. Through two recent acquisitions, we’re also growing our footprint. As a Community Development Financial Institution, our mission is to create economic opportunity in underserved areas, and our entrance into two new Delta communities, one on each side of the Mississippi River, reflects that. I hope you’ll enjoy reading about these and other recent events at Southern and consider joining us in our endeavors. Rural Americans are working hard to create economic opportunities, and we are looking for impact investment partners who want to help them. - Darrin Williams
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Southern HIGHLIGHTS One Southern. One Mission. Most of Southern Bancorp’s customers probably never realize that the Southern organization is made up of more than just a bank. Southern is in fact three distinct Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) working together around one mission: to create economic opportunity in rural America. The Southern family is made up of Southern Bancorp, Inc., which is the holding company that works hand in hand with both Southern Bancorp Bank, a fullservice community bank providing responsible and responsive financial services to our communities, and Southern Bancorp Community Partners, a 501(c)(3) financial development partner that provides counseling, asset-building, lending and public policy advocacy in support of our mission. Working together, these entities are uniquely qualified to help lift up entire communities and put them on a strong financial track. As you might imagine, having a unique structure like ours requires education, both outside our organization as well as inside. That’s why during the summer
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Blytheville & Trumann staff celebrating One Southern
of 2014, Southern’s CEO, Darrin Williams, traveled across our markets to meet with employees in order to energize and strengthen our own knowledge of the Southern organization. This campaign is called One Southern. One Mission., because the central reminder is that regardless of which part of the Southern family one works within, we’re all working toward the same mission.
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Growing Our Impact Much of Southern’s recent research has centered on the increasing need for financial access in rural America. This need is driven by the emerging bank deserts across the country. The number of banks in America continues to decline through either mergers or closures, and rural America is hit especially hard. And while other banks are leaving these communities, Southern is actively seeking opportunities to move into them because that’s our mission – to serve these populations that otherwise would go without the lifeblood of capitalism. Underscoring that commitment, Southern has made two announcements in recent months about acquisitions in rural communities along the Mississippi River Delta. The first includes a branch in the small Arkansas community of Eudora (pop. 2,585). Like many Delta communities, Eudora has experienced dramatic job loss (23.6% unemployment rate) and rising poverty rates (52.4%)
Simmons to donate branch to Southern Bancorp Simmons First National Corp. said Monday that it will donate a Eudora Delta Trust & Bank branch to Southern Bancorp Bank...
Read full article here.
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Southern
HIGHLIGHTS
in recent years. At Southern, we believe we have the tools necessary to help slow, and one day reverse, these trends by promoting sustainable economic development that encourages small business growth and creates jobs, all while offering responsible financial services that build credit, educate borrowers and reduce reliance on predatory lending products. We are already hard at work introducing ourselves around town, and we look forward to becoming a strong economic partner in the community.
More recently, we announced the acquisition of a bank across the river in Bolivar County, Mississippi.
Bolivar County Eudora
The Bank of Bolivar County, one of the smallest in Mississippi, operates two branches in the communities of Mound Bayou and Shelby, where Southern currently operates a branch. The Mound Bayou community has a rich historical significance, having been founded following the Civil War as one of the nation’s first independent African-American communities. Yet for all of its tenacity, the community has experienced the same economic challenges as others in the Delta (Bolivar County unemployment rate: 16.3%, poverty rate: 34.2%). That situation had, until now, been exacerbated by the fact that the community’s only bank, the Bank of Bolivar County, was limited in its lending ability due to its small size and increased banking regulations, which limited its ability to spur new economic opportunities. Our entrance into the community will bring an improved offering of products that will serve the community well, while ensuring that the community relationships built over the decades remain strong.
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Southern
HIGHLIGHTS
Creating Jobs Southern’s partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is having a significant impact on the community of Helena-West Helena, Ark. The project now has four components which are each contributing to significant job growth in a county with the highest poverty rate in the state and one of the highest in the nation. The four projects consist of the Helena Startup Challenge, a business plan competition; Riverside Renewal, a revitalization project which provides matching investments in commercial and residential projects in historic downtown Helena; the Helena Jobs Incentive, which is a job stimulus program providing financial incentives for job creation; and Community Champions, which encourages the recruitment and retention of quality public service professionals by providing down payment or renovation assistance to teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters and others who are first time home buyers in Helena-West Helena. To date, the combined community investment of these projects has passed $600,000, with over 40 jobs created. Check out the “In the News” section for news coverage of these programs. Click here to skip to In the News.
Battery C - Historic Civil War site in Helena-West Helena, Ark.
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Leadership Changes Changes at Southern’s executive level were also recently announced with the promotion of Dominik Mjartan to Chief Executive Officer of Southern Bancorp Community Partners, Southern’s financial development partner. For nearly a decade, Dominik has been at the forefront of Southern’s work to create innovative programs and raise capital as Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy in Southern’s holding company, and he’ll bring that same spirit to Dominik Mjartan CEO Southern Bancorp Community Partners, EVP Southern Bancorp Inc.
managing the array of economic and community development services offered by SBCP. He will also continue to provide support and guidance to Southern’s corporate strategy as the Executive Vice President of Southern’s holding company.
October 7, 2014
A Banker Who Aims to Balance ‘Margin and Mission’ Dominik Mjartan, the new chief executive officer of Southern Bancorp Community Partners in Little Rock, Ark...
Read full article here.
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A BANK ON A MISSION Inspiring Stories across the Delta
It’s easy for us to talk about Southern’s mission-oriented approach to banking, but it’s always better to hear from those directly impacted by our work. Here you’ll find three short videos in which actual Southern customers talk about their experience with us and what that has meant to them and their community.
Click on the images to watch videos of their stories. Matt Inman - Helena-West Helena , Ark.
Watch this video and others here.
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Doug Hollowell - Helena-West Helena, Ark.
Watch this video and others here.
Leatha Flenaugh - Helena-West Helena, Ark.
Watch this video and others here. Southern Bancorp on Vimeo www.vimeo.com/southern
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Employee Spotlight Vida Felder
Credit and Housing Counselor Helena-West Helena, Ark. How long have you been with Southern? 14 years. Interesting fact about you? Many people probably do not know that I’m originally from the African nation of Ghana, but even fewer people know that I’m a big country music fan. What do you do? I help individuals, families and businesses, many for the first time, not only by serving as a loan officer, but also helping them navigate the loan process through financial and homebuyer education as well as credit counseling. I also help them obtain, analyze and compile the financial and credit information needed to proceed through the loan process. In addition to my lending responsibilities, I coordinate Southern’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, also known as VITA, which provides free tax preparation for income eligible individuals. To date, we have processed nearly $30 million in refunds and credits for our communities. Most rewarding part of your job? I love being a one stop shop for the community’s financial services. From someone buying their first home or starting a business to needing help and advice on repairing their credit, we can do it all. I also enjoy knowing that I have the flexibility to work with customers in turning nearly bankable projects into reality. It means a lot to know that we aren’t just helping the individual; our work is impacting the community by helping bring people into the financial mainstream.
Learn more about our unique programs at www.southernpartners.org
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SOUTHERN In the News Banks Experiment with Apps for the Underbanked
Some banks are using mobile technology to answer a big challenge from regulators: how to offer consumers outside the mainstream more products and services.
Read full article here.
Renovations Add Energy to Eastern Arkansas City
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Honestly, Matt Inman has no idea what sort of financial reward might be generated by the three buildings he now owns on Cherry Street in Helena-West Helena.
Read full article here.
CEO Darrin Williams, by Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation In celebration of Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation’s 40th anniversary, WRF is releasing a series of 40 short films honoring 40 nonprofit leaders who are shaping the future of Arkansas, and leading the way for the nation.
Watch here.
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We want to hear from YOU!
If you’d like to know more about how Southern is creating economic opportunities in rural America, or find out how you can invest in the work that is empowering people and transforming communities, drop us a line at southern@banksouthern.com