their High Standards Award for 1997.

While CSADC has developed formal relationships with a number of Nevada financial
institutions, the relationship formed with Bank of America has been by far the most
successful. The Bank of America Community Development Bank provided construction
financing on nine of our eleven projects for a total of $ 26.8 million and provided permanent
financing on one project for a total of $ 1.2 million. CSADC utilizes the Bank of America
Community Development Bank financing primarily because of its favorable loan terms and

the responsiveness of its knowledgeable and committed staff.

Another CSADC project supported by Bank of America has been our First Time
Homebuyer Program. In the last four years, CSADC has provided down payment and
closing cost assistance to 203 low income families purchasing their first home through this

program.

Bank of America Mortgage has been the most active lending participant in the program,
generating 60 of the 203 loans or 30% of all loans combined. Again, this is due largely
to the high level of support and knowledge of our program demonstrated by Bank of
America staff, as well as the favorable lending criteria which Bank of America has

developed for its affordable loan programs.

Bank of America staff were actively involved in the development of our pre-purchase

counseling program and donated approximately eight hours per month of staff time to

——


Last summer, NationsBank Jowa made a major investment in ISED to help subsidize the cost of
our business training programs in both urban and rural areas. Today, Al Gross, the bank’s Vice-
President for community investment serves on our advisory council in Des Moines, our capital
city. Al and I are now exploring ways to strengthen and grow our business relationship in ways

that achieve our mutual goals.

Honestly, the attention we are getting from NationsBank is great and the investment is very much
appreciated. But the bottom line is that lowa now has a major financial institution that views the
health and growth of inner-city markets as a major focus and opportunity. And we are proud to

be a partner with NationsBank in fulfilling those objectives.

The proposed merger between NationsBank and the Bank of America will only serve to
strengthen and expand that commitment. The new bank will provide a remarkable depth and
breadth of products and services to rebuilding neighborhoods and increasing economic
opportunity. We look forward to welcoming the new bank and the new opportunities it will

provide to widen the circle of economic opportunity for all Iowans. Thank you.



and services which Bank of America has in place in Nevada are not lost in the process.

As atelatively small state in terms of population we in Nevada have often found ourselves
excluded from initiatives presented by both private and public funding sources on a
national basis. We would encourage that the Bank of America Community Development
Bank, Bank of America Foundation and staffing support of local initiatives, and the Bank
of America Rural 2000 Initiative be maintained or expanded through this merger. Thank

you.


assist CSADC in the actual provision of the counseling. The Bank of America Foundation
has also provided administrative support in the amount of $5,000 on an annual basis for

this program.

One of the most recent important initiatives on which CSADC and Bank of America are
working is the Bank of America Rural 2000 Initiative. Three of CSADC's affordable
housing projects mentioned before, were developed in rural Nevada utilizing Bank of
America Community Development financing. As you may be aware, due to the small
populations and cyclical mining economic base of rural Nevada, financing is hard to come
by for any type of housing development. In fact even now, approximately 40% of all

housing in rural Nevada consists of mobile homes.

The Bank of America Rural 2000 Initiative is designed to expand on the current financing
products available in rural areas to include community facilities such as childcare centers,
capacity building support for nonprofit organizations, development of a community
development loan fund servicing rural areas, and support of uses of technology designed
to meet rural needs. In order to develop these initiatives, Bank of America Rural 2000
included on its Advisory Board community leaders from all service areas, including
CSADC’s Executive Director, Mr. Cloyd Phillips. Bank of America’s dedication to the rural

areas of Nevada is to be commended.

CSADC supports the Bank of America and Nations Bank merger. Our main concern in

fact, the reason for being here to today is to assure that the positive programs, products


A critical element of ISED’s success stems from its relationships with the financial community.
As we are not a direct lender, ISED relies on financial institutions as one important source of
capital to help our clients start small businesses. However, many of our clients fall outside
traditional credit guidelines. Over the past ten years, we have been successful in encouraging
some banks to look at low to moderate income people as a profitable market for new customers

and new business opportunities.

However, Iowa, unlike California, North Carolina, New York, Maine and many other states, does
not have a history of community development corporations, community development financial
institutions and other public-private models for revitalizing distressed neighborhoods and
creating jobs and businesses in low-income communities. This is not to say that financial
institutions are not committed to community development. Rather, we have not yet fully
explored the newer approaches to bank-driven public-private investments in low-income

communities.

In 1997, NationsBank bought Boatmen’s Bank, based in St. Louis and which had a presence in
Iowa. It many ways, that will be remembered as the beginning of a new era of banking in Iowa.
For the first time, a bank came to us and said, “we know what you do and we embrace it. What
can we do together to increase business activity, jobs, and savings and investment in the

communities we work in together?”

Needless to say, it was a breath of fresh air for us. We didn’t need to convince NationsBank that

serving the LMI market made good business sense — they are already doing it.

Lg


Pyrel 2Y

Federal Reserve Board Public Hearing on Nations Bank/ Bank of America
Merger
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
July 10, 1998

San Francisco Unified School District’s School-to-Career Programs Support
of Nations Bank/Bank of America Merger
Written Submission of Testimony of Joseph Baker

tes


7

- fonel 24

1901 Broadway, Suite 313 + Iowa City, lowa 52240 (USA) + (319) 338-2331 * Fax (319) 338-5824

| IN & Institute for Social and Economic Development

Testimony to the
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
on the Proposed Merger Between NationsBank and Bank of America
July 9, 1998
by
Jason J. Friedman, Vice-President
Institute for Social and Economic Development

Iowa City, Iowa
My name is Jason Friedman and I am the Vice-President and Director of Economic Development
for the Institute for Social and Economic Development in Iowa City, Iowa. ISED is a statewide
non-profit agency that helps low-income, unemployed and underemployed individuals to start
small businesses to become economically self-sufficient. ISED also works in economically

distressed urban and rural areas partnering with communities seeking to revitalize their local

economies and create new businesses and jobs.

The proposed merger between NationsBank and Bank of America has profound significance for

my organization and [ am here today to explain why.

ISED is a microenterprise development agency. We provide training in self-employment for
Iowans that see small business development as a way to become self-sufficient, provide for their
families and enter the mainstream economy. Over 65% of the nearly 1,000 Iowans we serve each

year are on public assistance or have incomes under 150% of the federal poverty level.

Economic Development Branch Offices: Cedar Rapids + Davenport + Des Moines + Sioux City * Waterloo
Research & Evaluation Branch Office: Omaha NE


Panel 24

Community Services Agency and Development Corporation

Bank of America / Nations Bank Merger
Testimony before the Federal Reserve Bank

July 10, 1998

Thank you for this opportunity to testify. | am Michele McKee, Planner with Community
Services Agency Development Corporation (CSADC). CSADC is a private nonprofit

human services corporation which has been operating in the State of Nevada for 33 years.

During the past seven years, CSADC has focused a major portion of its energy in
developing affordable housing opportunities for the low income and working poor
populations in Nevada. Our housing efforts actually originated with a $10,000
predevelopment grant received from Bank of America in 1991. Since that time, CSADC
has constructed eleven projects consisting of 801 units of affordable housing and is

currently developing an additional 200 units within State.

While our primary focus is on increasing the availability of affordable housing, our
secondary focus has been to maintain and/or improve the quality of life in communities and
neighborhoods in Nevada. Our high quality construction projects are located in desirable
areas of town and blend with existing architecture and amenities making them
indistinguishable from market rate apartment complexes in the same neighborhoods. The

Builders Association of Northern Nevada recognized our most recent development with

LZ


The Academy of Business and Finance is today at the forefront of the school-to-work
movement. It is a focus of and model for education reform efforts in this community. In
San Francisco, of the 18,962 high school students, 42% are identified as educationally
disadvantaged, 27% receive free or reduced cost lunch, 24% are limited or non English
speaking and over 80% are identified as members of minority populations. While the
students participating in the Academy of Business and Finance program reflect the same
diversity, over 94% continue on to a two or four year college.

Bank of America Support of School-to-Careers and the Academy of Business and
Finance

Bank of America and Bank America Foundation have served as key factors in the support
of school-to-career programs nationally and in San Francisco.

On a national level, Bank of America’s participation on the National Employer
Leadership Council and in the development of National Skills Standards in Banking has
set a standard of corporate leadership in developing tools to assist educators. Bank of
America has supported the development of model school-to-career programs in many
communities to promote educational reform and economic development.

In San Francisco, Bank of America has a long history of supporting public education.
Bank of America currently sponsors paid internships, scholarships, grants to support
program development and other services that directly impact the education and improve
the lives of the young people involved in San Francisco STC Programs and the Academy
of Business and Finance. Bank of America provides business Advisory Board leadership
for the Academy of Business and Finance. Employees from throughout the bank have
served as mentors and donated vast amounts of time to help students with such things as
resume writing and interviewing skills. Other employees have volunteered as speakers,
provided tours or worked with teachers to improve curriculum.

[ Conclusion

Bank of America’s support for the San Francisco School-to-Career Program and the
Academy of Business and Finance has a great and positive impact on thousands of high
school students. The School-to-Career office of the San Francisco Unified School
District sincerely believes that the merger between Nations Bank and Bank of America
will greatly increase the STC partnerships ability to provide quality educational
opportunities to San Francisco’s young people and will create a more diverse workforce
for the financial services industry of the 21St century. It is for these reasons that the
School-to-Career office of the San Francisco Unified School District wholeheartedly
supports the merger between Nations Bank and Bank of America. We thank the Federal
Reserve Board for the opportunity to express that support.


[ Description of School-to-Careers and the Academy of Business and Finance

The San Francisco School-to-Career Partnership (STC) is an effort by the San Francisco
Unified School District, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and City College of San
Francisco to combine the knowledge and experience of education, business, and
government leaders to better prepare public school students for their futures: as college
students, members of the American workforce, and beyond. Key aspects of the STC
partnership include:

Raising Educational Standards: Identifying the skills needed for success in further
education and in the workplace; ensuring high aspirations among all students.

Integrating School and Work: Linking students’ classroom learning with experiences in
the workplace and in the community; ensuring students are exposed to a full range of
career opportunities.

e Career Experiences: Working with the private and public sectors to provide the
following structured learning opportunities in the workplace for students and teachers:
Student internships: paid, time-limited structured work experiences

Job Shadowing: opportunity for students to observe an employee in the workplace
Teacher Externships: short or extended teacher visits to the workplace

Site Tours: group visits to various workplaces

Evaluating Progress and Success: Setting goals and creating measurement tools to track
and assess the STC Partnership system.

System Building: Connecting and expanding upon existing school, community,
government, and corporate programs which serve to educate and prepare San Francisco
youth for career success.

The Academy of Business and Finance is a San Francisco School District career pathway
which is a component of the San Francisco STC Partnership. The Academy of Business
and Finance currently offers over 1200 students at 7 public high schools the opportunity
to explore careers in business and the financial services industry while developing the
skills necessary for success in any career. Students take rigorous academic courses,
participate in tours of businesses, work on improving academic skills with a business
mentor, work as an intern and take a college course in the senior year.

Key to the success of the Academy of Business and Finance Program is a quality
community partnership. An active advisory board consisting of business executives,
college partners, community representatives and high school teachers and students
support and guide the program. Training for teachers, mentors, internships, financial
support and assessment of progress are provided by this partnership. The Academy of
Business and Finance is a member program of the National Academy Foundation, based
in New York, which has developed a national network of over 500 model school-to-
career programs.