Wainwright Bank Receives $300,000 Award From CDFI Fund

One of Only 47 Financial Institutions Nationwide to Receive Recognition

BOSTON, MA - August 7, 2006 - Wainwright Bank & Trust Company (NASDAQ: WAIN) has been awarded a 2006 Bank Enterprise Award of $300,000 from the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund of the U.S. Treasury.

The award was provided in recognition of Wainwright’s efforts in developing affordable housing within distressed communities and for providing financial assistance to the Boston Community Loan Fund. The bank was one of three Massachusetts and 47 nationwide financial institutions to be recognized.

The Bank Enterprise Award Program provides incentives for FDIC insured financial institutions to annually increase the levels of financial services provided to economically distressed communities. Such services may include financing for needed community facilities, commercial loans to small businesses, loans to rehabilitate rental housing, mortgages for first-time homebuyers and direct investments in Community Development Financial Institutions.

The awards are in varying amounts based on a financial institution’s increase in community development activities over a pre-defined period of time. Of the fifty-three banks nationwide sharing the $12 million award total, Wainwright received the twelfth largest amount.

“We are honored to have our community development lending efforts recognized by the U.S. Treasury for the ninth year in a row. We’ve used the awards to create a donor advised fund at The Boston Foundation, and to develop CommunityRoom.net which provides free hosted websites with on-line donation capabilities to the nonprofit clients of Wainwright Bank,” said Senior Vice President and Community Development Loan Officer, Pamela Feingold.

Founded in 1987, Wainwright Bank is a socially responsible commercial bank headquartered in Boston with assets of $780 million and 11 branches throughout Greater Boston. Over 40% of the bank’s commercial lending portfolio is dedicated to community development initiatives including affordable housing, homeless shelters, HIV/AIDS services, community health centers, and environmental issues to name a few. Wainwright’s commitment to social justice has been widely recognized including recently being ranked 18th among the ‘100 Best Corporate Citizens’ by Business Ethics magazine.

^ back to top ^