FNBC Bank receives award from U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institution Fund
FNBC Bank, a Community Development Financial Institution, has received the maximum award amount of $233,287 under the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) program. This federal grant fund provides monetary awards to FDIC-insured depository institutions that successfully demonstrate an increase in their lending activity in distressed communities.
“FNBC has been committed to serving our communities for over 100 years,” said FNBC President and CEO Marty Sellars. “We are pleased to be recognized by the CDFI Fund for our efforts in lending to low-income and underserved communities. We will re-invest these dollars back into opportunities that help create better, stronger communities.”
According to the CDFI Fund, a distressed community is defined as those where at least 30 percent of residents have incomes that are less than the national poverty level and where the unemployment rate is at least 1.5 times that national unemployment rate.
FNBC Bank was one of four banks in Arkansas to receive this award. Nearly $22.8 million was awarded to 113 banks across the country.
About FNBC Bank:
FNBC Bank, chartered in 1912 as the Bank of Ash Flat, is a $450 million-asset community bank headquartered in Ash Flat, Ark. Its five county footprint through North Central Arkansas serves Ash Flat, Cherokee Village, Highland, Hardy, Mammoth Spring, Salem, Melbourne, Horseshoe Bend, Batesville and Mountain Home. FNBC received Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) designation in 2016.
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. To learn more about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov.
