GULFPORT — BauerFinancial Inc. has awarded Hancock Bank a 5-Star Superior rating for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2012. Hancock Bank has received BauerFinancial recommendations (4-Star or 5-Star ratings) for 94 consecutive quarters — or more than 23 years. “By making common-sense business decisions, proactively managing risk, and understanding how people prefer to do business, [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: May 17,2013
Tags: bank, banker, banking, damage, destruction, disaster, disaster recovery, emergency, emergency loan, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, federal agency, finance, financial institution, loan, natural disaster, small business, tornado, Weather, wind
ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — The U.S. Small Business Administration reminds homeowners, renters, businesses and non-profit organizations of the deadline to submit disaster loan applications for damages due to the severe storms and tornadoes April 11-12. The deadline to apply for physical damage is June 17. Low-interest disaster loans are available in the following counties: Noxubee County [...] [...]
JACKSON — Trustmark National Bank has opened a new 12,000-square-foot office location on the first and second floors of the Nexen Building in Bunker Hill, Texas. The financial institution said it needs to expand as it continues to grow within the Houston market. Trustmark currently operates 15 locations in the Houston market, with loans outstanding [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: May 16,2013
Tags: acquisition, buy. sell, check, check cashing, expand, expansion, finance, financial institution, loan, merger, payday loan, purchase, sale, store
MADISON — All American Check Cashing announced today the completion of the acquisition of 10 payday loan retail stores today throughout Mississippi. Terms were not disclosed. This marks the second merger and acquisition for All American this year and increases the total number of retail stores in Mississippi and Louisiana to 44. The payday loan [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: May 13,2013
Tags: bank, banker, banking, finance, financial institution, initial public offering, invest, investing, investment, investor, publicly traded company, share, stock
GULFPORT — First NBC Bank Holding Company, the New Orleans-based holding company for First NBC Bank, has priced its initial public offering of 4,166,667 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $24 per share. The common stock has been approved for listing on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, trading under the [...] [...]

Mississippi Department of Banking & Finance expects cooling off period, caps on number of loans An analysis of payday lending by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may be a prelude to establishing a “cooling off” period between loans taken out by chronic borrowers. The move could have a huge impact in Mississippi, where approximately [...] [...]
Economic development, which is generally defined as the process of creating wealth in a community, continues to evolve. In this column we will discuss a bit of Mississippi economic development history, where it stands now and what the future might hold. PAST — The genesis of Mississippi’s formal economic development effort as we know it [...] [...]
Reshoring is the catchy name used to describe efforts to bring manufacturing jobs back to America. It includes the return of jobs “off-shored” or “out-sourced” by U.S. companies as well as jobs brought to America by direct foreign investment. While General Electric, Caterpillar and Ford have brought jobs back to the U.S., we see more [...] [...]
For this column, we will discuss those areas of estate and financial planning for the age group I will refer as “age 50 and older.” Obviously, we’re dealing with a wide age span for people in this group that pairs those of the World War II generation along with the Baby Boomer generation that followed [...] [...]
by MBJ Staff Published: May 8,2013
Tags: contracting, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, federal agency, female, minority, rule, small business, women, women-owned business
WASHINGTON — An interim final rule published in the Federal Register and effective immediately will amend regulations to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program. According to the SBA, the interim final rule allows for greater access to federal contracting opportunities for women-owned businesses as a result of the National Defense [...] [...]