Press Room

                                                    Media advisory                                                                        For immediate release


                                                                    Jerry Powell named Chairman of the Board of Directors
                                                                          Of the Housing Enterprise of Central Alabama

 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Sept. 27, 2006 – Jerry W. Powell has been named Chairman of the Board of the Housing Enterprise of Central Alabama, LLC and the Housing Fund of Central Alabama, Inc., CEO Michele Jenkins-Utomi announced today.

Mr. Powell is General Counsel and Secretary of Compass Bancshares, Inc. and its lead bank Compass Bank. In his new leadership position, Mr. Powell heads a 15-member regional board that oversees The Housing Enterprise of Central Alabama, LLC (HECA) a community development lender that loans money to qualified private and non-profit developers of moderately priced housing in a 12-county region.

HECA is loan consortium owned and financed by its seven investor banks: AmSouth Bank, Regions Bank, Compass Bank, New South Federal Savings Bank, First American Bank, Superior Bank, and Aliant Bank. HECA’s loan fund stands at $56.5 million – one of the largest of its kind in the United States.

HECA also has a non-profit affiliate, the Housing Fund of Central Alabama (the Fund), which provides grants to non-profits for core-operating support on a limited basis, technical assistance, and programs related to capacity building. The Fund’s initial grant pool amount is $1.6 million. Funding is provided by HECA’s investor banks and three community foundations: The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, the Stringfellow Health Fund of the Community Foundation of Calhoun County, and the Walker Area Community Foundation.

Mr. Powell has served on the Board and Executive Committee since HECA opened in April 2003. He succeeds the company’s first Board Chair, Ted Kennedy, a Founder of BE&K, Inc., who resigned earlier this year. The Board also recently approved naming Mr. Kennedy as Chair Emeritus.

“We are thrilled to have Jerry Powell as Board Chair,” said Ms. Jenkins-Utomi. “He has demonstrated a strong commitment to HECA and its mission of providing housing for people of modest means. He has been involved in this effort since the early days, and his leadership and expertise have proven invaluable time and again.”

“HECA’s mission is to increase the number of housing units available to low and moderate income families in our 12 county region, through capacity building and innovative financing for home builders,” said Mr. Powell.  “I look forward to working with our Board and staff to fully implement our goals.”

Compass Bancshares, Inc. is a $33.6 billion southwestern financial holding company headquartered in Birmingham. Compass operates 409 full-serviced banking centers in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Texas. Mr. Powell is the chief legal officer of the corporation, responsible for providing general legal advice to the company and its subsidiaries in all areas, including regulatory and corporate governance matters. Mr. Powell has served as general counsel since 1991. He leads a staff of seven highly motivated professionals who provide counsel to the company and its subsidiaries.  

A native of Montgomery, AL, he is a graduate of the public school system and cum laude graduate of Birmingham-Southern College with a B.A. in political science. Mr. Powell also graduated with honors from the University of Alabama School Of Law. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Alabama Bar Association, and he is a frequent speaker on banking law and corporate practice.  

In addition to his service on the HECA Board, Mr. Powell is a member of the Board of Directors of AIDS Alabama, a non-profit corporation providing housing and supporting services to the HIV/AIDS infected community. He was a founding director of Magic Moments, an organization dedicated to fulfilling the wishes of terminally ill children.  He has served as president of the Crestwood community in the Birmingham Citizen's Participation Program, and as a member of the Birmingham Public Library Pension Board of Managers.  Mr. Powell also serves Birmingham-Southern College as a member of the President's Advisory Council.

To date, HECA has approved and closed nearly $14 million in loans to finance single- and multi-family housing, and closure is pending on another $5.95 million. That financing involves more than 600 units of housing. The Fund has distributed nearly $700,000.
 
HECA and the Fund (www.housingenterprise.com) provide niche products and services as a means of meeting needs that are otherwise not being met in the private market, as well as act as advocates for affordable housing policies and efforts.  Loans can be structured to provide up to 100% project financing with limited recourse. Eligible projects include: single family housing or multi-family; acquisition and rehabilitation; new construction; and subdivision development. HECA also partners with the Fund to provide gap financing to qualified non-profit and private developers. This may take the form of a grant, mezzanine debt or forgivable loan. This partnership capacity is unique in the region, and was purposeful on the part of the founders.

HECA serves 12 counties in Central Alabama: Bibb, Blount, Calhoun, Chilton, Cullman, Etowah, Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby, Talladega, Tuscaloosa and Walker.

For more information, please contact: Michele Jenkins-Utomi, CEO, Housing Enterprise of Central Alabama, 205-323-9888, or mutomi@housingenterprise.com

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