AmSouth Invests $350,000 with CEII, to Provide Loans to Small Businesses in Economically Depressed Neighborhoods; $100,000 Earmarked for the Front Porch Florida Microloan Program.

Business Editors

PENSACOLA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 18, 2001

AmSouth Bank is investing $350,000 with the Pensacola-based Community Equity Investments, Inc. (CEII), to provide loans to small businesses in economically depressed areas in Northwest Florida and South Alabama.

CEII is a not-for-profit Community Development Corporation with a mission to revitalize economically distressed communities through small business lending, affordable housing and community development programs within areas where the average income is at or below 80 percent of the area median income.

$100,000 of AmSouth's investment will be used in conjunction with the Front Porch Florida Microloan Program in Pensacola. Front Porch Florida is Gov. Jeb Bush's urban revitalization initiative to preserve core neighborhood values and assist neighborhoods in identifying and strengthening existing community assets. AmSouth also is providing $20,000 in grants along with technical assistance and lending expertise to assist CEII with the Front Porch program in Pensacola.

In making today's announcement, Mike McNamee, Northwest Florida Area Executive for AmSouth Bank, said, "AmSouth is proud to partner with Community Equity Investments to help provide the financial tools emerging small businesses in distressed areas need to succeed. CEII has earned an excellent reputation since being founded in 1974 by demonstrating time and again that its efforts can produce tangible results that create jobs and improve the communities in which CEII operates."

Daniel R. Horvath, president of Community Equity Investments, Inc., said CEII is excited about this relationship with AmSouth. "AmSouth's investments will significantly increase available loan capitalization in our most flexible loan pool, thereby providing a much needed source of this capital for new and expanding businesses throughout Northwest Florida and Southern Alabama," Horvath said.

CEII offers seven different loan programs, and AmSouth's additional $250,000 investment will be applied to CEII's GAP loan pool. The GAP pool is unrestricted capital, designed for loan requests that fall outside requirements for other loans. A loan request, for example, may be higher than a particular program will permit, or the business may be located in an area not served by a particular program.

AmSouth's investments will be in the unique form of an "equity equivalent" and will offer below market interest rates of only three percent to CEII. CEII, in turn, will use these funds to make loans to businesses that otherwise could not qualify for traditional sources of credit. As these loans are repaid, CEII will use the funds along with interest earned to make additional loans. CEII also provides extensive training and technical assistance to all program borrowers.

The geographic area served by CEII includes the Northwest Florida counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Bay, Jackson, Calhoun, Gulf, Gadsden, Liberty, Franklin, Leon and Wakulla and the South Alabama counties of Baldwin, Mobile, Washington, Clarke, Monroe, Conecuh, Escambia, Covington, Coffee, Geneva, Dale, Henry and Houston.

About AmSouth

AmSouth is a regional bank holding company with $38.9 billion in assets, 600 branch banking offices and 1,250 ATMs. AmSouth operates in Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia. AmSouth is a leader among regional banks in the Southeast in several key business segments, including consumer and commercial banking, small business banking, mortgage lending, equipment leasing, annuity and mutual fund sales, and trust and investment management services. AmSouth also offers a complete line of banking products and services at its web site, www.amsouth.com.