United Bank Awarded $4 MM Capital Magnet Fund Award from U.S. Department of Treasury
May 7, 2018 – Atmore, AL – Robert R. Jones, III, President and CEO of United Bank, a subsidiary of United Bancorporation of Alabama, Inc. (OTC: UBAB), announced today that United Bank has received an award of $4 million from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) program. The award will be managed by UB Community Development, LLC, which is a community development partner of United Bank. United Bank was one of only 40 entities nationwide to receive a Capital Magnet Fund award, and its $4 million was one of the largest awards granted to a single entity.
The Capital Magnet Fund is one of the many programs administered by the Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, which utilizes a variety of initiatives to foster economic growth and revitalization across low-income, economically distressed communities, both urban and rural, throughout the United States. The CMF program’s focus is to attract investment for affordable housing and related catalytic economic impact across these communities. CMF proceeds can be used to develop a variety of different housing and quality-of-life projects, from the construction of low-income housing developments to the creation of community service facilities such as daycare centers, workforce development programs, and health care clinics.
Awardees can use the proceeds in a variety of ways, such as creating loan loss reserves to help incentivize mortgage lending to low-income borrowers, creating loan funds designed to assist low-income borrowers with the upfront costs of home buying, pairing with Low-Income Tax Credits to facilitate the construction of multi-family housing developments, among many other strategies. An awardee can also pair its award with those of other awardees or across different CDFI-administered programs to enhance the amount of capital delivered to a project.
While discussing the CMF Award, Mr. Jones noted that “the CMF award helps to ensure our continued efforts in sustaining and improving communities across Alabama and beyond. United Bank, through its partnership with UBCD, is honored to be a recipient of this award and have the opportunity to develop projects aimed at providing better housing options for low-income families and creating new economic opportunities throughout Alabama and Florida.”
In addition to the CMF award, since 2016, the U.S. Department of Treasury, through its New Markets Tax Credits Program, has awarded UBA and UBCD $120 million in New Markets Tax Credits allocations. UBA, and subsequently UBCD, are the only community development entities (CDE) headquartered in Alabama to receive a New Markets allocation from Treasury in the last decade. This success was made possible largely because of United Bank’s designation as a CDFI bank and the organization’s unwavering commitment to its CDFI mission to bring positive and sustainable economic and quality-of-life improvements to low-income and 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 non-profits in rural and persistent-poverty areas. Like the New Markets Tax Credits awards, UBCD is the only Alabama-based entity to receive and administer the CMF and Community Facilities awards.
For more information about UB Community Development or for help in planning your next funding project, contact Wes Young, Vice President of UB Community Development at (251) 446-6195 or wes.young@ubcommunitydev.wpengine.com.
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About United Bank
United Bank is a $600 million financial institution that has enjoyed 114 years of service. United Bank has offices in Atmore, Brewton, Flomaton, Monroeville, Frisco City, Bay Minette, Foley, Lillian, Loxley, Magnolia Springs, Silverhill, Spanish Fort and Summerdale in Alabama. United Bank serves Santa Rosa County, Florida in Jay, Milton and Pace. For more information about United Bank, please visit our website at www.unitedbank.com. Member FDIC.
About UB Community Development
UB Community Development’s history in New Market Tax Credit transactions, coupled with our passion for improving the communities around us, make UBCD Alabama’s premier financial partner for low-income and rural economic and community development. Through our various programs and projects, UBCD is working with community development partners in the fields of healthcare, education, manufacturing public works and more. For more information about UB Community Development, visit our website at www.ubcommunitydevelopment.com.
