Independent Banker - February 2022 - 69

Building wealth for everyone
As CEO of Southern Bancorp, Darrin Williams wants to promote relationships between community banks
and CDFIs to create more prosperous communities. By Judith Sears
arrin Williams, an attorney
and former Arkansas state
representative, wasn't interested
when Southern Bancorp, Inc.
approached him about a leadership
position in 2013. His wife, however,
reminded him of how rewarding
he'd found it to facilitate a financial
principles course at his church.
Williams reconsidered and became
CEO of Southern Bancorp, a group
of three community development
financial institutions (CDFI):
Southern Bancorp Inc., the holding
company; Southern Bancorp Bank,
a $2 billion-asset community bank
headquartered in Arkadelphia, Ark.;
and Southern Bancorp Community
Partners, a $40 million nonprofit
loan fund.
D
" CDFIs are economic and financial first
responders for people who are not well
served by traditional banks. I'm issuing a
call to action for community banks and
CDFIs to work better together. "
-DARRIN WILLIAMS, SOUTHERN BANCORP
Since then, Williams has developed
a strong vision of how community
banks and CDFIs can partner to
build more prosperous communities.
" CDFIs are economic and financial
first responders for people who are
not well served by traditional banks, "
he says. " I'm issuing a call to action
for community banks and CDFIs to
work better together. "
Traditionally, community banks
have supported CDFIs through
making charitable contributions,
providing loan capital to CDFI loan
funds or, at the highest range, making
an equity investment in a CDFI. All of
these earn Community Reinvestment
Act (CRA) credits for community
banks. However, Williams sees
opportunities for more immediate
community impact.
Name:
Southern Bancorp
Assets:
$2 billion
Location:
Arkadelphia, Ark.
Better serving its communities
Recently, Southern Bancorp partnered
with $1.1 billion-asset Relyance
Bank, headquartered in Pine Bluff,
Ark., to better serve low-income
borrowers. Relyance is working to
increase its mortgage lending but
sometimes isn't able to make loans for
some customers.
Williams notes that this
often occurs in minority and/or
economically distressed markets:
Some banks might provide deposit
accounts for individuals but then deny
them a loan.
That's where Southern Bancorp
Community Partners can be a bridge.
The nonprofit loan fund has HUDcertified
counselors that provide preand
post-home buying counseling.
" We provide very high touch, handson
financial services and counseling, "
Williams says.
Under the newly launched
partnership, Relyance refers
customers to Southern Bancorp
Community Partners for counseling.
" Our counselors work with them for
a time, get them ready to purchase
a home and then send them back to
Relyance, " Williams says. " That's
the way that community banks can
work with CDFIs that provide those
financial development services. We
hope to partner with other community
banks in our service area. "
He points out that under this
model, the community bank is not
giving up a customer. Instead, it is
turning a denied loan into a funded
and potentially profitable loan that
affects its bottom line.
Williams adds that demographic
shifts forecast a growing minority
population. " That's a large
opportunity for clients, " he says. " If
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