HOPE Receives Boost from Treasury

Hope Credit Union Receives Boost Treasury to Increase Lending
Investment to Benefit Economically Distressed Areas

JACKSON, MS—Today Hope Federal Credit Union (HOPE) closed a $4.52 million secondary capital investment through the Treasury Department’s Community Development Capital Initiative. One of the first credit unions to participate in this program, HOPE will use the funds to increase its financing for small businesses, homeowners and otherwise promote development in economically distressed communities across the Mid South.

HOPE CEO Bill Bynum says the Treasury investment represents a breakthrough for low-income communities. “By investing in credit unions and other Community Development Financial Institutions, Treasury is supporting a key segment of the nation’s finance sector”, says Bynum. “HOPE has experienced a steady increase in demand for credit over recent years as many traditional lenders have restricted their lending. The Administration and Congress are to be saluted for helping to insure that the nation’s hardest hit communities have access to the financing needed to stimulate economic recovery.”

HOPE and its primary sponsor, Enterprise Corporation of the Delta have generated over $1.5 billion in financing and benefited more than 75,000 individuals in the Delta, Katrina-affected areas and other distressed communities throughout Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.