New Markets Tax Credit Loan Program

ST. PAUL'S SUNRISE COMMUNITY BANKS AWARDED
$25 MILLION IN DEVELOPMENT TAX CREDITS
BY U.S. DEPT OF TREASURY CDFI FUND

SAINT PAUL, MN, April 5, 2011 -- The U.S. Treasury Department's New Markets Tax Credit Program has awarded St. Paul's Sunrise Community Banks $25 million in tax credit authority to stimulate investment in low-income communities throughout the Twin Cities.

Sunrise Community Banks, the parent company for Franklin Bank, Park Midway Bank, and University Bank, was one of 99 applicants headquartered in 27 states who received a total of $3.5 billion in tax credits for economic development and community revitalization through the New Markets Tax Credits program.

Administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program will help Sunrise Community Banks and other organizations accelerate economic development and job creation in the nation's low-income communities by attracting investment capital from the private sector. Sunrise Community Banks will accomplish this by providing tax credits to investors who make qualified equity investments in vehicles called CDEs (Community Development Entities). The credit provided to an investor totals 39 percent of the cost of the investment and is claimed over a seven-year period.

Sunrise Community Banks will use part of the allocation to create small business loan pools to expand the bank's lending to small and local businesses in highly-distressed neighborhoods of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

"We have actively participated in the New Markets Tax Credit program during the last two years; however, this is Sunrise Community Banks first allocation award," says David Reiling, CEO of Sunrise Community Banks. "As Minnesota's Socially Responsible Bank, we're delighted that the Treasury Department has given us the opportunity to drive job creation and economic development in low-income areas of the Twin Cities."

Potential borrowers wishing to explore business opportunities from Sunrise Community Banks made available through the $25 million in tax credits should contact Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer Nikki Foster at 651-259-2221. For more information about Sunrise Community Banks, visit the bank's Web site at: http://www.sunrisebanks.com.

About Sunrise Community Banks
Sunrise Community Banks, located in St. Paul is a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with a mission to be the "Leader in Improving Our Urban Community." The bank holding company affiliates (Franklin Bank, Park Midway Bank, University Banks) focus their lending in the urban core of Minneapolis and Saint Paul and offer deposit customers a Socially Responsible Deposit Fund (SRDF) option. When customers choose to participate in the SRDF, it offers them the chance to be an agent of change in our community. These deposits help fuel the banks' support of affordable housing, small business development and community services offered through not-for-profit organizations.