$5M raised for rural business lending
Monday December 17, 2007
From: the Nashville Business Journal
$5M raised for rural business lending
More than $5 million has been raised for Tennessee's Rural Opportunity Fund.
The fund is a public-private partnership between the State of Tennessee, the Tennessee Bankers Association (TBA) and Southeast Community Capital that will provide loans to rural businesses that do not have access to traditional financing.
Sixteen community banks have committed money to the Rural Opportunity Fund, which has reached more than half of its $10 million goal.
Over the next 10 years, the Rural Opportunity Fund is expected to generate more than $25 million in loans, financing more than 350 small
businesses and minority- and women-owned businesses and creating more than 600 new jobs.
"This fund is a vital key in growing Tennessee's rural economy and I am excited that Southeast Community Capital has managed to get the
resources for small businesses so promptly," says Revenue Commissioner Reagan Farr. "Tennessee's small and independent businesses deserve
the chance to prosper."
Banks that participate in the fund receive a tax credit annually over 10 years towards their Tennessee Franchise and Excise taxes.
Tennessee community banks participating in the funds include: FirstBank (Lexington), Pinnacle Bank (Nashville), Tennessee Commerce
Bank (Franklin), GreenBank (Greeneville), Community South (Parsons), Commercial Bank and Trust (Paris), Citizens Bank (Elizabethton), Reliant
Bank (Franklin), Citizens Bank (Carthage), Decatur County Bank (Decaturville), Wayne County Bank (Waynesboro), Citizens National Bank
(Athens), People's Bank (Clifton), Farmers and Merchants (Trezevant), F&M Bank (Clarksville) and Community Bank and Trust (Ashland City).
