FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Grant Beck, Marketing and Communications Manager
Phone: (202) 851-7550
Email: g.beck@nextstepus.org
FirstBank Joins Next Step Network
Regional Bank To Participate in the SmartMH Program
LOUISVILLE, KY – February 12, 2019 – Next Step Network has partnered with FirstBank – a Tennessee-based bank with banking, manufactured housing lending and mortgage operations throughout the Southeast – in the organization’s efforts to promote the use of affordable, energy-efficient factory-built homes.
“We are thankful to have FirstBank as part of our expanding network of businesses and organizations dedicated to affordable-housing solutions,” said Stacey Epperson, president and founder of Next Step Network. “Our collaborative work will provide a path to sustainable, affordable homeownership for more hardworking families in Tennessee and the surrounding communities.”
FirstBank is the third largest Tennessee-headquartered bank, and has 56 full-service branch locations. With more than 1,400 associates, FirstBank offers comprehensive financial services and products while maintaining a strong community focus.
“At FirstBank, we are all about helping people build a better future and with that we want to ensure that homeownership is a possibility for everyone,” said Kevin Kimzey, President of Specialty Lending. “We are proud to work in partnership with Next Step Network to help community members get to a better place.”
Next Step members are part of a national network of individuals, businesses and organizations that believe that manufactured housing is a viable, affordable, environmentally responsible solution to help solve America’s affordable housing crisis. Our members benefit from Next Step’s work to transform the manufactured housing industry. Network members are dedicated to delivering education, removing barriers to housing, changing the image of manufactured housing, and advancing policy changes around manufactured housing finance and Duty to Serve that better benefit home buyers and communities.
Next Step’s SmartMH program connects educated homebuyers with financial institutions and manufactured home retailers to increase access to affordable, ENERGY STAR® manufactured homes with fair financing. Freddie Mac has partnered with Next Step to expand the program, while improving access to credit for prepared buyers of manufactured homes.
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About Next Step® Network, Inc.
Next Step® Network, Inc., is a national, nonprofit housing intermediary that works to promote expanded use of factory-built housing as a viable solution to address housing affordability. Our organization mobilizes a national network of mission-driven nonprofits, leaders in the manufactured housing industry, and lending institutions serving home buyers and homeowners in their communities. Next Step’s system – Manufactured Housing Done Right® – connects responsible financing, comprehensive homebuyer education and delivery of high-quality, ENERGY STAR® manufactured homes at scale, creating a model that brings more value to the homeowners and communities. Learn more at www.nextstepus.org.
About FirstBank
Nashville-based FirstBank, a wholly owned subsidiary of FB Financial Corporation (NYSE: FBK), is the third largest Tennessee-headquartered bank, with 56 full-service bank branches across Tennessee, North Alabama and North Georgia, and a national mortgage business with offices across the Southeast. The bank serves five of the major metropolitan markets in Tennessee and, with approximately $5 billion in total assets, has the resources to provide a comprehensive variety of financial services and products.