Seven Communities to Compete for $15,000 Strong Communities Award

Who helped with the recruitment of new business and jobs after losing a major community employer? Who supported the needs of small and micro businesses? Who was instrumental in the construction of a business and community center? FHLB Des Moines members!

We are excited to announce the seven finalists for our annual Strong Communities Award. The award honors the projects, the people and the programs that promote small business growth and retention in community and also highlights the great work that our member financial institutions are doing every day to help their communities thrive.

The 2015 Strong Communities Award attracted a strong and diverse pool of applications. Applications varied between urban and rural communities; geographic location and project type; however, they all had one thing in common – strong support from a local FHLB Des Moines member financial institution.

The following FHLB Des Moines members, with the project location in parenthesis, were selected to participate in a public vote on the Strengthening Communities Together website (www.fhlbforcommunity.com) October 5-October 16:

Rural Category

Community Bank and Trust, Central State Bank, First National Bank of Muscatine (Muscatine, Iowa) - Partnered to support the creation of small businesses in targeted areas of the community that were once thriving with businesses.

First Southeast Bank (Harmony, Minnesota) - Assisted in the retention and expansion of one of the community’s largest employers.

Hawthorn Bank (Jefferson City, Missouri) - After losing a major employer in the area, community leaders partnered to recruit a business that has added 200 new jobs.

First State Bank (Langford, South Dakota) - Constructed a new Main Street Center that promoted and housed new businesses and a community gathering space in the town of 318 residents.

Urban Category

Bankers Trust (Des Moines, Iowa) - Created a program that makes capital available to low-income women entrepreneurs in the Greater Des Moines area who otherwise would not be able to start or expand their business.

Harborstone Credit Union (Tacoma, Washington) - Founded a non-profit organization to provide small and micro businesses access to low-cost capital and high quality business consulting services.

Kitsap Bank (Western Washington) - Developed a small business competition to provide funding for entrepreneurs dedicated to growing their community.

The public vote will serve as a component of the selection process and one winner in each category will be recognized during a community celebration and receive a $15,000 award to promote small business and economic development in their communities. The top finalist in each category will receive a $3,000 stipend.

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The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines is a member-owned cooperative that provides funding solutions and liquidity to nearly 1,500 financial institutions to support mortgage lending, economic development and affordable housing in their communities. Serving 13 states and three U.S. Pacific territories, FHLB Des Moines is one of 11 regional Banks that make up the Federal Home Loan Bank System. Members include community and commercial banks, credit unions, insurance companies, thrifts and community development financial institutions. The Des Moines Bank is wholly owned by its members and receives no taxpayer funding. For additional information about FHLB Des Moines, please visit www.fhlbdm.com.