Satsuma Fire Department

Satsuma Fire Department, a UB Community Development (UBCD) Community Facilities Lending Program Success Story

UB Community Development, LLC (UBCD), a community development partner of United Bank, announces $447,000 in Community Facilities Lending funding for the purchase of a new fire truck for the City of Satsuma Fire Department.

Firefighters undergo technical and physical endurance training to earn their certifications. They are trained to provide services in the midst of tragic emergencies. Emergency services are critical functions of a community. Having an operational, reliable fire truck is an important component to fire departments. The city will now have four firetrucks in addition to new equipment for the new truck.

In 2019, the City of Satsuma was rated by FBI statistics as the safest city in Alabama. With more than 1550 students enrolled at Satsuma City Schools and growing, the Satsuma Fire Department serves more than 7,000 Satsuma residents within 10 square miles. Their services expand to surrounding communities like Saraland, Creola and Axis if necessary. Having efficient and reliable fire services and resources are critical to keeping residents and firefighters in the community safe.

The City of Satsuma had a vested interest in ensuring their commitment to their firefighters to have the resources they need to stay safe. In 2019, the city celebrated their new 10,000-square-foot public safety building. Soon after, the Mayor and Council turned their attention to the
replacement of aging equipment. With a staff of eight, including the fire chief, as well as countless volunteers, the fire department had three fire trucks in their fleet, one of which was aging.

“We are excited to extend our partnership with the City of Satsuma,” said Alex Jones, President UBCD. “Having provided Community Facilities Lending funds for both the public safety building and their new fire truck, we feel they have the resources they need to provide fire and safety services for the residents of Satsuma. Safety services are vital to building strong vibrant communities. We would like to congratulate the City of Satsuma on their strategic vision in expanding their emergency services.”

“It was important to us as community leaders to upgrade and add to our firetruck fleet,” said Mayor Tom Williams. “Our intention was to keep the aging truck operational and in our reserve. We knew that if we kept using the aging truck on a regular basis, we might get into a situation where it would not be in service. We explored replacing the aging truck, but until now, we were not able to have proper financing to fund the new truck. The city would like to thank Chris Walker for helping with this project. We would also like to thank the council members in their forward thinking in approving a replacement truck.”

About UB Community Development
UB Community Development’s strong history and experience in New Markets Tax Credit transactions, coupled with our passion for improving the communities around us, make UBCD Alabama’s premier financial partner for economic and community development. Through our NMTC projects, Community Facilities Lending Program and Community Housing Capital Fund, UBCD is working with community development partners in the fields of healthcare, education, manufacturing, public works, affordable housing and more.

Since 2016, the U.S. Department of Treasury, through its New Markets Tax Credit Program, has awarded United Bancorporation of Alabama (OTCQX: UBAB), the parent corporation of United Bank and UBCD, $120 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocations. UBA, and subsequently UBCD, are the only community development entities (CDE) headquartered in Alabama to receive a NMTC allocation from Treasury in the last decade. This success was made possible largely because of United Bank’s designation as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and the organization’s unwavering commitment to its CDFI mission to bring positive and sustainable economic and quality-of-life improvements to underserved communities, not only in its traditional banking footprint, but throughout the entire states of Alabama and Florida.

Additionally, UBCD, as the community development management entity for UBA, manages a $40 million Community Facilities Lending Program, which provides accessible, low-cost capital to local government and nonprofits in rural areas. Finally, UBCD offers Community Housing Capital (CHC) investments as part of its commitment to strong inclusive neighborhoods and diverse housing opportunities. CHC investments are partly funded by Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) awards allocated through the US Department of Treasury. Since 2018, United Bank has been the recipient of two CMF awards totaling $10 million. Like the New Markets Tax Credit awards, UBCD is the only Alabama-based bank to receive and administer these programs.

Download the success story here.