Firstar Announces Initial Phase of Its $7.65 Billion St. Louis Community Development Initiative.

Business Editors

ST. LOUIS, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2000

Firstar Corporation, the parent company of Mercantile Bank, announced today the initial phases of its five-year $7.65 billion community development initiative for the St. Louis area. This ambitious dollar commitment was first announced in June 1999 and will target low-to-moderate income neighborhoods, low-to-moderate income consumers, small businesses, home mortgages, non-profit community development groups and affordable housing development across the entire metropolitan area.

Firstar's initial community development initiative will include:

North St. Louis Lending Initiative - Firstar has established a

five year $100 million lending target for North St. Louis. This

lending effort will include small business loans of $10 million

per year for five years and mortgage loans of $10 million per

year for five years.

Firstar Small Business Equity Fund - This fund will make a total

of $750,000 available over the next three years to small

businesses located in North St. Louis. These loans will be

structured as equity capital.

Firstar Advantage Neighborhood (FAN) Grant Program - The FAN

Grant program will commit $500,000 over three years to

not-for-profit organizations delivering services in North St.

Louis. This program will consist of $1,000 to $25,000 grants for

not-for-profit groups that contribute lasting value to

neighborhoods.

St. Louis Revitalization Program - As part of Firstar's

commitment to the market a grant of up to $100,000 will be

available to the City of St. Louis to support its neighborhood

revitalization efforts.

Cynthia Booth, senior vice president and director of community development for Firstar, noted, &uot;St. Louis is an important part of our future as an organization and we want to demonstrate our commitment to this community with some very positive actions. To make this five year initiative a success we will be partnering and forming alliances with local individuals, local governments, businesses and other local groups and organizations to help us to identify the best use for these dollars.&uot;

Firstar's community development initiative builds on Mercantile's outstanding lending efforts of the past. For more information on Firstar/Mercantile community development initiative loans or grants, contact Dean Keyes, senior vice president of Firstar's community development in St. Louis at [phone].

St. Louis Mayor Clarence Harmon remarked, &uot;The city is delighted to be a working partner with Firstar/Mercantile, a bank that has worked closely with city staff and resources in a variety of initiatives including the Convention Center Hotel, O'Fallen Place, Operation Impact, Cupples Station, and more recently, the St. Louis City Neighborhoods marketing brochures. It is public/private partnerships like our relationship with Firstar/Mercantile that are the keys to making St. Louis a better place to live, work and do business. I look forward to a continued successful working relationship with Firstar/Mercantile and commend the bank on its commitment to the people of St. Louis.&uot;

As part of the Firstar/Mercantile effort, local community organizations will be helping identify uses for grants and how best the lending portion of the program can impact St. Louis' many neighborhoods. The Coalition For North St. Louis Economic Development (CNSLED) has already stepped forward to take a leadership position in helping Firstar/Mercantile make the overall community development initiative a success for small businesses. As part of the initiative CNSLED has also established a technical assistance program aimed at helping business owners in North St. Louis.

Eric Vickers, president of the CNSLED, remarked, &uot;The economic development of our community has to be the agenda this century. Our community suffers from lack of businesses and our businesses suffer from a lack of capital. Until there is economic empowerment, there will be social dysfunction. Our emancipation lies in entrepreneurship, our destiny in the economy we control. Through our partnership with Firstar/Mercantile we can work to attain these goals and help businesses and individuals in North St. Louis.&uot;

In addition to helping local businesses, this initiative will aid groups interested in improving overall living conditions such as Housing Solutions, which Firstar/Mercantile is currently helping with a revitalization effort in the Mark Twain neighborhood. This effort includes home improvements, removal and rehab of vacant buildings and new construction on vacant lots.

Susan Murray, executive director of Housing Solutions, said, &uot;Housing Solutions is working closely with residents of the target area of the Mark Twain neighborhood in planning and implementing this revitalization. Building on the strengths of the neighborhood, we are looking forward to continued successes.&uot;

Parrie May, Alderwoman of the 1st Ward also noted of the project, &uot;People seem enthusiastic about what is going to happen in the neighborhood. It is going to make a big impact in a depressed area. It is an unprecedented effort between the city, neighborhoods, Firstar/Mercantile, community groups and other individuals. As the Alderwoman, I am very supportive and interested in continuing to move projects such as this forward.&uot;

Part of the success of the Firstar/Mercantile effort will depend on local organizations like the CNSLED and Housing Solutions helping identify community needs and priorities of targeted neighborhoods. Additionally, Firstar/Mercantile will be tracking the success of the community development initiative and will supply updates as to its progress.

Firstar Corporation is a regional bank holding company with approximately $73 billion in total assets. Firstar has nearly 1,200 full-service banking offices and more than 2,200 ATM locations in Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kansas, Arizona and Florida. Firstar offers a comprehensive line of consumer and commercial banking products and services, personal and commercial trust, investment management, insurance, securities brokerage, mortgage, credit card, cash management, international banking and other financial services. Firstar Corporation is the parent company of all Mercantile Banks in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois and Kentucky and all Firstar Banks. Visit Firstar on the web at www.firstar.com. Firstar was founded in 1853.

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