WS Chronicle

Mechanics and Farmers Bank has announced that it was selected to receive $323,000 under the 2013 Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Program. This is the third such award M&F Bank has received from the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, under the United States Treasury.

The CDFI Fund created the BEA Program in 1994 to support FDIC-insured financial institutions around the country that are dedicated to financing and supporting community and economic development activities. The basis for the award was the Bank’s lending activities in economically distressed communities. Of the 85 grant recipients named by the CDFI Fund, M&F Bank was the only North Carolina-based financial institution.

M&F Bank is the only North Carolina-based commercial bank that carries the prestigious CDFI certification. CDFI institutions provide a wide range of financial products and services to historically underserved and economically distressed markets.

“We are pleased that, despite all of the economic and industry challenges in recent years, Mechanics and Farmers Bank has clearly maintained our focus on supporting the wealth and well-being of the communities we serve,” said M&F President Kim D. Saunders. “This is something to which this institution is, and always has been, committed. It is gratifying to have this commitment acknowledged by the CDFI Fund, by way of a significant grant award. This milestone was not attained in a vacuum; in fact, the effort required to achieve it is integrated in everything M&F seeks to accomplish.”