Citizen 1st Bank establishes $100,000 endowed scholarship fund to benefit Nacogdoches County students at SFA

Citizens 1st Bank recently created a Noble Scholarship Endowment in the amount of $100,000 at Stephen F. Austin State University. The fund will provide assistance for outstanding Nacogdoches County students who are in their second, third or fourth year of studies at Stephen F. Austin State University. The NOBLE program began in 1990, when the education committee of the Nacogdoches County Chamber of Commerce formed a coalition between business and county school districts. Scholarship awards began in 1994, when The Daily Sentinel and Do Dat Barbecue began offering 10 $1,000 scholarships annually to Nacogdoches County high school seniors. Citizens 1st Bank joined the effort in 2001, awarding 10 additional scholarships each year. Pictured are, from left, Bruce Partain, president of the Nacogdoches County Chamber of Commerce; Kim Luna Snyder, senior vice president of Citizens 1st Bank and vice chair of community development for the chamber; Dr. Tito Guerrero III, SFA president; Margie Tipton, chamber education committee chair and former SFA faculty member; Pattye Greer, SFASU Foundation board member and former SFA regent; and James I. Perkins, chairman of the board of directors and president of Citizens 1st Bank.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 4, 2004

Dr. Tito Guerrero, president of Stephen F. Austin State University, recently announced the establishment of the Citizens 1st Bank Noble Scholarship Endowment in the amount of $100,000 to provide scholarships and financial assistance for outstanding Nacogdoches County students who are in their second, third or fourth year of studies at Stephen F. Austin State University.

“Stephen F. Austin State University is aggressively working to maintain and increase quality student enrollment, and the efforts of Citizens 1st Bank are greatly appreciated,” Guerrero said.

James I. Perkins, chairman of the board of directors and president of Citizens 1st Bank, said, “Citizens 1st Bank is pleased to work with the Nacogdoches Chamber of Commerce and Stephen F. Austin State University in helping our fine Nacogdoches students attend one of the nation’s best schools.”.

In addition to this scholarship fund, Citizens 1st Bank previously has established a $100,000 Bank Professorship in the Nelson Rusche College of Business and has awarded 30 Noble Scholarships. Perkins is a former chairman of the Stephen F. Austin State University Board of Regents and a former chairman of the Stephen F. Austin State University Foundation Board.

Citizens 1st Bank, locally owned and operated since 1920, has locations in Nacogdoches, Jacksonville, Rusk and Tyler. The bank has more than $600 million in assets and $90 million in capital. The bank consistently has been rated A+ by the Weiss Bank Rating Company and was named the “Safest Bank in Texas” in the New York Times best seller “Conquer the Crash” by Robert R. Prechter Jr.

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