2021 CSBS Community Bank Case Study Competition Journal

2021 COMMUNITY BANK CASE STUDY COMPETITION

2 ND PLACE The University of Arkansas

Southern Bancorp Bank: Serving the Underserved Since 1986 Introduction Southern Bancorp Bank (SBB) is part of a dynamic organization that operates throughout the Mississippi Delta in Arkansas and Mississippi. “From their mission to their markets, Southern Bancorp is a different kind of bank. Focusing on underserved communities, Southern combines traditional banking and lending services with financial development tools and public policy advocacy to help families and communities grow stronger.” 1 Southern Bancorp is an organization that has been rooted in diversity, inclusion, and economic fairness since its inception in 1986. Bill Clinton, who was then governor of Arkansas, partnered with the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Rob Walton, Mack McLarty, and others to create Southern Development Bank Corporation, now known as Southern Bancorp, with a mission to provide economic fairness to some of rural America’s most underserved and distressed communities in Arkansas and Mississippi.

Students: Austin Greek

Grant King Eric Larsen Faculty Advisor: Dr. Tim Yeager Co-Advisors: Dr. Kuan Liu Cao Fang (Ph.D. candidate)

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