BENTONVILLE, Ark., Feb. 6, 2017 – The Walton Family Foundation today announced it is partnering with Southern Bancorp Community Partners to promote economic development in the Delta. The foundation’s $750,000 investment will support SBCP’s efforts to provide much-needed capital to small businesses in Phillips County, Arkansas and Coahoma County, Mississippi.

“Access to capital often challenges small businesses in the Delta region,” said Karen Minkel, Home Region Program director for the Walton Family Foundation. “This infusion of funds will help fill a critical gap in sustaining and growing these economic engines.”

According to the Small Business Administration, small-business lending in SBCP’s market has dropped considerably since 2000. From 2000-2013, the number of these loans decreased by 38 percent in Arkansas and 63 percent in Mississippi. Also, many banks have shown reluctance to finance small businesses, especially those that need $100,000 or less in loan capital. Without access to funding, these ventures are unable to purchase inventory and equipment, expand their physical spaces, hire additional employees, upgrade their systems or grow their operations.

“For many businesses in the Delta, financial access has significantly decreased or disappeared,” said Darrin Williams, CEO of Southern Bancorp, Inc., SBCP’s development partner. “Our mission is to ensure that this access exists in places that need it most, and this investment from the Walton Family Foundation will greatly enhance that ability.”

SBCP will leverage the foundation’s investment to provide a total of $1.5 million in loans. It will utilize this capital to support its lending activities to small businesses and other entities contributing to economic growth in Phillips and Coahoma Counties.

For more than three decades, the foundation has invested in projects to ensure the long-term economic growth of the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta region, particularly Phillips and Coahoma counties. This partnership is part of the foundation’s effort to impact targeted job creation in the area. Other areas of support include Pre-K-12 educational improvements, providing young people with engagement and development opportunities and improving public safety.

About the Home Region Program and the Walton Family Foundation
The Home Region Program invests in projects that measurably improve the quality of life by creating cultural, educational and economic opportunities throughout Northwest Arkansas and in the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta region. In 2015, the Walton Family Foundation contributed more than $35 million to its home region. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org, and join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.

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 then Governor Bill Clinton, former Walmart Chair Rob Walton, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and others who were concerned about the economic decline of rural Arkansas. All three entities are U.S. Treasury certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) collectively known as “Southern.” With $1.1 billion in assets, 80,000 customers and 42 branches 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 about Southern on the web at www.banksouthern.com and www.southernpartners.org.