HOPE CEO Joins SBA Officials for Roundtable on Future of American Business

Regional CDFI Brings Critical Lending Expertise to Discussion

Jackson, Miss.– Bill Bynum, CEO of HOPE (Hope Enterprise Corporation/Hope Credit Union) and Greg Wineland, HOPE’s Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending, will be part of a conference on “Winning the Future with American Business” hosted by the White House Business Council and the U.S. Small Business Administration. HOPE has more than 15 years of experience as a leading SBA lender and meeting the needs of small businesses with financing and related services.

“We see entrepreneurs and small businesses with great potential across the Mid South, and HOPE has been an important part of helping them grow with the right combination of lending and technical assistance,” said Bynum. “Now more than ever, companies need capital to succeed, and HOPE has continued to set new lending records every year while other institutions have severely curtailed their lending efforts. We are committed to being part of this region’s prosperity.”

Since 2000, the nonprofit has provided more than $160 million in financing for nearly 700 businesses across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The funding helped create or maintain nearly 11,000 jobs.

The roundtable will be held Wednesday, June 22, in Jackson, Mississippi. The meeting will feature Cassius Butts, Regional Administrator of the SBA’s Region IV headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

“President Obama’s State of the Union address that the nation must commit to winning the future: out-innovating, out-building and out-educating the rest of the world,” said Butts. “The purpose of these roundtables is to listen to local businesses, getting feedback on how the Administration can best support their growth. It is also to make sure that local business leaders are taking advantage of the Administration resources and programs designed to help them create jobs and compete.”

White House Business Council members will host these roundtables in at least 100 communities across the country by year-end. Jackson, Mississippi is one of those communities. Also, local SBA Mississippi District Office staff will be present to share information about SBA.

HOPE is a financial institution, community development intermediary and policy center that provides affordable financial services; leverages private, public and philanthropic resources; and engages in policy analysis in order to fulfill its mission of strengthening communities, building assets, and improving lives in economically distressed parts of the Mid South. Since 1994, HOPE’s efforts have generated over $1.4 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.

SBA helps develop thousands of small businesses each year by providing access to start-up and expansion capital, counseling, training, surety bonding, business and home disaster mitigation loans and government contracting opportunities. Region IV is consistently among the top three most active regions in the nation for SBA guaranteed lending programs. In 2010, over 160,000 small business loans were approved in the region.