CHARLESTON, S.C. — Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Michael Hsu, today visited rural communities of the South Carolina Lowcountry as well as North Charleston to meet with community stakeholders and local businesses to discuss community reinvestment needs and opportunities. President & CEO of the South Carolina Association for Community Economic Development, Bernie Mazyck, led the Acting Comptroller on a tour of Lowcountry to learn about successful examples of community reinvestment and encourage more lending, investment, and banking services in local businesses and nonprofits.
The community tour included stops at Boogie’s BBQ restaurant in Hollywood and Sea Island Comprehensive Health Care Cooperative in Johns Island. The tour also included a visit to an artisan beverage company, Estuary Beans and Barley, on Johns Island, founded and led by Army veteran and local entrepreneur and nonprofit leader Scott Harrison. The tour concluded with a lunch and roundtable bringing together over 40 bankers, community leaders, business owners, and government officials to discuss the reinvestment and banking services needs of the community.
The roundtable discussion, facilitated by Acting Comptroller Hsu, gave participants the opportunity to discuss the value of partnerships between banks and community development lenders to address financing gaps in South Carolina’s rural and other underserved communities. Speakers at the roundtable included:
• Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu
• Graham Adams, Chief Executive Officer, South Carolina Office of Rural Health
• Dorothea Bernique, Founder and Executive Director of Increasing H.O.P.E
• Bernie Mazyck, President & CEO, South Carolina Association for Community Economic Development
• Lila Anna Sauls, President and CEO of Homeless No More
• Dr. Jennie Stephens, Chief Executive Officer, Center for Heirs Property Preservation
“The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, along with national and community banks serving South Carolina, have been vital partners with the community economic development sector by helping low-wealth families and individuals overcome financial obstacles to build wealth for themselves and their communities”, said Bernie Mazyck, President and CEO of the SC Association for Community Economic Development.
About SCACED (www.scaced.org)
SCACED is a coalition of over 170 individuals and organizations who support the development of healthy and economically sustainable communities throughout South Carolina. For over 25 years, SCACED and its members have worked collaboratively to build wealth and create economic opportunity for all SC residents including a focus on minority communities and other groups who have been left out of the economic mainstream.
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