Choctaw Plaindealer
Bank Of Kilmichael Awarded Grant To Support Loans, Investments In Underserved Communities
From Press Reports
U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) on Sept. 22 announced the award of $19 million to four dozen predominantly rural Mississippi banks and financial institutions to support loans and investments in economically distressed areas.
The FY2023 Bank Enterprise Award Program grants were approved through the U.S. Department of the Treasury Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
“The BEA Program is important to Mississippi because it provides another avenue to credit and loans that other financial institutions wouldn’t necessarily offer to small businesses or start-ups in more rural or distressed areas,” Hyde-Smith said. “These resources will be put to work specifically to support job creation and retention in areas that need it most.”
Hyde-Smith, a member of the Senate Community Development Finance Caucus, has actively used her position on the Senate Appropriations Committee to support the BEA Program and CDFI Fund. Most recently she joined U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) in introducing the Supporting Community Lenders Act (S.2099).
The CDFI Fund provides BEA Program awards to FDIC-insured depository institutions committed to increasing their investments in CDFIs or in their own lending, investing or service activities in distressed communities, which are defined as those where at least 30% of residents have incomes below the national poverty level and where the unemployment rate is at least 1.5 times the national unemployment rate.
Bank of Kilmichael is among Mississippi institutions that will receive $451,025 each. The bank has branches in Kilmichael, Winona, Eupora, Mathiston and Ackerman.