MS SC513

Commends William (Bill) Bynum, founder and CEO of HOPE, a Jackson, Mississippi-based community development financial organization, for receiving the 26th Heinz Award for the Economy on November 18, 2021

HOPE operates in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, providing financial services to combat economic disparities based on race, gender, and birthplace

Since 1994, HOPE has generated over $3 billion in financing benefiting nearly two million people, with 8 out of 10 members being people of color, 60% women, and 75% earning less than $50,000 annually

HOPE financed over 5,000 Paycheck Protection Program loans during the pandemic, with 89% going to businesses owned by people of color and half to women-owned businesses

Directs the resolution be presented to Bill Bynum and HOPE, forwarded to the Mississippi Development Authority, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps