Stimulus to help state bank help Indians

By Jim Myers
Tulsa World, Okla.
(MCT)

A Tahlequah bank is one of 10 U.S. institutions selected to receive federal stimulus dollars to help American Indian communities, the Obama administration announced Wednesday.

The Bank of Cherokee County will receive $796,522.

Donna Gambrell, director of the U.S. Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, said institutions chosen for the program are transforming their communities by helping to create businesses and jobs, provide affordable housing and build vital facilities where they are needed desperately.

In all, the 10 institutions will receive $8 million.

According to the announcement, the Tahlequah bank provides financial products and services to low-income American Indians in Cherokee County.

Gary Chapman, chairman and CEO of the bank, which dates to 1907, said the funds will be used to increase lending capacity and improve information technology for loan documents.

''We are a Native American-owned bank," Chapman said. "We believe you serve the people in the area."

More than half of the bank's customers are American Indian, he said, adding that it also serves a large Hispanic population.

''I feel like the small businesses are the backbone of America, and we certainly fall in that small business arena," Chapman said.