User:Iam Southern/Bank

= Southern Bancorp = www.banksouthern.com

History
In 1986, then Governor Bill Clinton and the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation announced an initiative to end decades of economic decline in rural Arkansas by creating new trends of investment in people, jobs, business and property. Southern Bancorp, a community development bank holding company, and its family of nonprofit development affiliates would emerge from that initiative. A consortium of private foundations, governmental entities, corporations and concerned individuals would come together later that year to incorporate Southern Bancorp.

Founding directors included then Arkansas First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Thomas F. (Mack) McClarty, ShoreBank founders Ron Grzywinski and Mary Houghton, Tom McRae, Henry Morgan, Dorothy Stuck and Rob Walton.

Over the past two decades, Southern has adapted its approach to the specific needs of the region. Southern’s strategy for change involves geographically focused community planning and development efforts within 50 miles of Southern bank branches. Along the way, Southern has grown with the acquisition of banks in southern and eastern Arkansas and western Mississippi, including: Elk Horn Bank and Trust in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, First Bank of the Delta in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, Delta Southern Bank in Mississippi, Timberland Bank of El Dorado, Arkansas, First Delta Bankshares in Mississippi County, Arkansas, First National Bank of Blytheville in Blytheville, Arkansas, and Bank of Trumann in Trumann, Arkansas.

Southern Bancorp is the largest and most profitable rural development banking organization in the United States. As such, it has the physical presence, infrastructure, and capacity to drive regional change. Southern Bancorp’s revitalization initiatives are advanced through its family of community development banks and non-profit affiliates, known collectively as Southern. Southern’s focus on rural development is best indicated by the fact that its offices are located in small rural communities, most with populations of 15,000 or less. The mission of Southern is a personal responsibility of its employees who live, work, and raise families in the communities served by Southern.

Impact
Southern is committed to revitalizing rural communities in Arkansas and Mississippi. We measure our success though the increased opportunities residents have to improve their lives, plan for their futures, and re-imagine their communities. We call it “Building communities. Changing lives.”

Building Communities – Southern prioritizes its development work by collaborating with community residents, organizations, business, and government to create strategic community plans that guide all other development programs and activities. So far, our work has resulted in the investment of millions of dollars in target communities and the creation of thousands of new jobs and businesses.

Changing Lives – Southern’s impact at the community level is magnified by its direct positive impact in the lives of individuals and families in the target rural communities. Residents have saved millions of dollars for use toward home purchase, college education, and business development; have improved their lives through the use of new health, education, financial, and youth development opportunities, and have become leaders in their communities through participation in strategic planning.

Walter Smiley
Walter Smiley, Chairman of the Board, is president of Smiley Investment Company, a venture capital firm based in Little Rock, Arkansas. Previously, he was founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Systematics, Inc., a financial data processing software company that was ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the top 100 companies in America.

Phil Baldwin
Phil Baldwin is president and chief executive officer of Southern Bancorp, Inc. Mr. Baldwin currently serves on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the United Way of America and United Way Worldwide Board of Trustees – where he is chairman of the Finance Committee and treasurer, the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Arkansas Capital Corporation, Ouachita Baptist University, and is Vice Chairman of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Baldwin also serves on the Governor’s Roundtable on Health Care and has been recognized by the United States Small Business Administration for entrepreneurial leadership and by the Economic Developers of Arkansas as Economic Developer of the Year. With over 30 years experience in banking, Mr. Baldwin began his career in the banking services group of Ernst and Young, is a certified public accountant, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Arkansas Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Dr. Tony Berkley
Dr. Anthony (Tony) Berkley is the deputy director for Education & Learning at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. He also serves on the Mission Driven Investments team. Tony is an anthropologist with 15 years of domestic and international experience in program design, strategic planning, and education research. He is the author of numerous publications in the fields of knowledge of management, education, and anthropology. Tony holds both master’s and doctoral degrees in anthropology from the University of Chicago. In addition, he holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago. Tony is a member of several professional associations including Grantmakers for Education, American Educational Research Association, and the American Anthropological Association.

Jerry Damerow
Jerry Damerow served as Associate Director of UAMS BioVentures; as a Managing Partner for Ernst & Young operations in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Southeast Asia; and as a management consultant for early stage businesses. Damerow’s civic and professional involvement includes serving as a member and past director of the Little Rock Rotary Club; as a University of Arkansas at Little Rock Business Advisory Council member; and as treasurer of the Piedmont Neighborhood Association.

Herman Davenport
Herman Davenport is president and cheif executive officer of the Davenport Group. He previously served as community affairs officer for the Levi Strauss Foundation, providing development funding to low-wealth communities and neighborhoods. Mr. Davenport is an advocate for economic development and serves on the board of directors of the Rural Community Assistance Program.

John C. Edwards
John Edwards is a partner in the firm of Anible & Edwards, a general law practice in Little Rock, Arkansas. He has served as an aide to former United States Senator David Pryor, where he was responsible for working with agricultural related issues. In 1996, he was appointed Arkansas State Director of USDA Rural Development. USDA Rural Development is the lead federal agency providing funding for rural housing, businesses, and water systems. Edwards is a colonel in the Arkansas Army National Guard and has been awarded the Bronze Star, the Humanitarian Service Ribbon, the Combat Action Badge, and his Paratrooper Wings. He served two tours of duty in Iraq.

Kim Evans
Kim Evans coordinates the Nonprofit Management Graduate Certificate Program and directs the UALR Center for Nonprofit Organizations. Her previous experience includes serving as a project manager for the Public Education Foundation of Little Rock, an assistant attorney general in the Arkansas Attorney General’s Civil Division, and as a law clerk for the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Arkansas and the Arkansas Court of Appeals. Evans serves on the United Way Heart of Arkansas Board of Directors, is a member of various St. Vincent Health System boards, including the Board of Directors, Women’s Health Advisory Board and Foundation Board, and is a member of the Junior League of Little Rock.

Elizabeth Glasbrenner
Elizabeth Glasbrenner grew up in Little Rock and attended historic Central High School, then attended Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She served as special events coordinator for the National Sports Center for the Disable and as associate development officer for the Carolinas Healthcare Foundation before being named vice president of Smiley Investment Company in 2000. Ms. Glasbrenner is currently vice president of administration for Smiley Technologies, Inc. in Little Rock.

LaVerne Feaster
LaVerne Feaster is a retired educator and administrator from the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Her current and past board appointments include the Arkansas Rice Depot, Florence Crittenden Home, the Arkansas Association of Children Under Six, the Arkansas Teen Suicide Prevention Commission, 4-H Foundation, and the Arkansas Repertory Theater.

Dr. Bob Fisher
Bob Fisher is president of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Fisher serves on the board of directors and is the past chair of the Greater Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Country Music Foundation, the Nashville Symphony, the PENCIL Foundation, the Nashville Alliance for Public Education, the Nashville Business Committee for the Arts, Cumberland Region Tomorrow, and Fifth Third Bank. He is an active member of the Rotary Club of Nashville and participates in Nashville’s Agenda. Dr. Fisher is co-author of Real Dream Teams, a book on team leadership, published by St. Lucie Press and has published numerous articles on management and leadership including articles that have appeared in the Personnel Journal and Personnel Administrator. He has consulted with a wide variety of organizations on human resource and strategic planning issues including Kimberly Clark Corporation, Alltel, Arkla Gas, and the United States Department of Transportation. Dr. Fisher has served in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as a Fulbright Scholar conducting research and consulting with the National Institute of Public Administration, and was a keynote speaker at the Arabian Society for Human Resource Management Conference in Bahrain.

James Harrington
James Harrington is president of Harrington Construction Company. He serves on the board of the National Association of Home Builders, National Council of Multi-Family Housing, Arkansas Home Builders Association, and the Clark County Home Builders Association.

Dr. Glendell Jones, Jr.
Glen Jones serves as senior associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and Research and as executive assistant to the chancellor at Arkansas State University. He currently serves on the board of directors and is the current board president of City Youth Ministries, Inc ., the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, St. Bernard’s Healthcare, and the Greater Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Jacquelyn Williams McCray
Jacquelyn W. McCray retired as dean of the School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Having served most of her professional career at UAPB, McCray came to administration from a faculty position in the Department of Human Sciences. For more than 20 years she conducted housing and community development research in Arkansas. During this time she served as Chair of two Southern Region Housing Research Projects, conducted contract research for the Lower Mississippi Delta Commission, the Winthrop Rockefellow Foundation and the Arkansas Development Finance Authority. Professionally, McCray is a long-time member of the American Association of Housing Educators having served on its board of directors (1982-85), chair of the research section (1989-90), and national president (1991-92). She has been a member of the Research Advisory Committee for the Housing Assistance Council in Washington, DC and is widely published in major Housing, Family and Community Development Journals and has more than 50 referred publications to her honor. Though no longer engaged in housing research, McCray has given professional expertise in support of housing and community development initiatives through the Jefferson County Affiliate of Habitat for Humanity and the Pine Bluff Community Housing Resources Board. McCray has served as chair of the Association of 1890 Extension Administrators and as a member of the National Extension Committee on Organization and Policy. She is a member of Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society of Agriculture, Alpha Kappa Mu National Honor Society, and Kappa Omicron Nu Honor Society for Family and Consumer Sciences. She is listed in Outstanding Young Women of America and International Who’s Who and is a recipient of the Arkansas Women of Achievement Award in Energy.

Walt Patterson
Walt Patterson is senior vice president of Affiliated Computer Services. He is the national board chair of Volunteers of America and the Electronic Fund Transfer Association. His current and past affiliations also include the National Council of State Human Service Administrators, the Arkansas State Job Training Coordinating Council, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy Futures Advisory Committee.

Freddye Petett
Freddye Pettet joined the Clinton School after retiring from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 2005 where she served most recently as coordinator of the Mid South Delta Initiative. Prior to that, she directed the Kellogg International Leadership Program. Before joining the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 1990 as an associate director for the Leadership program, Ms. Pettet was administrator of Oregon’s Adult and Family Services Department and held other public service positions, such as assistant to the mayor of Portland, Oregon; executive director of the Urban League of Portland; director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, Washington; Board Chair of the Housing Authority of Portland; and management consultant to community-based organizations and state and local governments. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Portland State University, and has carried out doctoral studies in Sociology at the Union Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Jerry Sims
Jerry Sims has over 40 years of banking experience with Union Planters Bank in Memphis, Tennessee and First National Bank of Blytheville, Arkansas. He is a graduate of the University of Memphis and the Barrett School of Banking, serves as chairman of the Arkansas Northeastern College Board of Trustees, as president of Blytheville Unlimited, and on the Barrett School of Banking Board of Regents. He is past president of the Greater Blytheville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Rodney Slater
Rodney Slater is a partner in the public policy practice group of Patton Boggs, LLP in Washington, D.C. Mr. Slater was unanimously confirmed as the nation’s 13th secretary of Transportation and served as secretary until the end of the Clinton Administration. Mr. Slater is on the board of directors of Verizon and Delta Airlines, and has held past positions as chairman of the board of United Way of America, director of Government Relations at Arkansas State University, and secretary-treasurer of the Arkansas Bar Association.

Dorothy Stuck
Dorothy Stuck is a retired civic leader and business woman. Ms. Stuck owned three eastern Arkansas newspapers for 20 years and served nine years as director of the 5-state Southwestern Regional Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. She was a partner in Stuck and Snow Resultants, a management and publications firm, for fifteen years. She was a founder of The Wilowe Institute, a statewide, membership-based leadership development organization. She is co-author of the award winning biography, Roberta: A Most Remarkable Fulbright.

Sherman Tate
Sherman Tate is vice president and general manager for operations of Verizon. Previously he served as vice president for Arkansas Distribution Operations at Arkla Gas. A former president of the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Tate serves on the boards of directors of Philander Smith College, St. Vincent Health System, and the United Negro College Fund and on the Pulaski County Facilities Board.

Southern Bancorp
Southern Bancorp is the largest rural development bank in the United States, with 45 branch offices from Missouri to the Gulf Coast. With over $1 billion in total assets, Southern Bancorp seeks to improve education, increase economic opportunity, and reduce poverty in rural America.

Southern Bancorp Capital Partners
Southern Bancorp Capital Partners is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliate of Southern Bancorp that specializes in comprehensive community and economic development activities.

Southern Good Faith Fund
Southern Good Faith Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliate of Southern Bancorp that works to reduce poverty by providing specialized financial and non-financial services directly to low-income individuals and families.