First Tennessee invests $1 million in Operation HOPE

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Sept. 28, 2016 -- First Tennessee Bank will contribute $1 million to expand its financial literacy efforts through a partnership with global financial dignity and economic empowerment nonprofit, Operation HOPE, Inc. The $1 million investment in Operation HOPE’s new HOPE Fund will support creation of the First Tennessee Financial Education & Empowerment Program, which will offer free financial education to youth, adults, and small businesses. 

The curriculum will be facilitated by First Tennessee’s employee volunteers, strategic nonprofit alliance partners, and counselors at First Tennessee HOPE Inside offices.

First Tennessee will open a total of 15 HOPE Inside offices, including several offices specific to small business counseling. To date, First Tennessee has opened five HOPE Inside offices – in branches in Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville – and will open three more by the end of the year, including the first HOPE Inside location in Chattanooga.  The seven other HOPE Inside offices will open in First Tennessee branches in 2017.     

“First Tennessee is committed to providing financial literacy education, tools and support to help our customers and communities reach their financial goals,“ said Bryan Jordan, chairman, president and CEO of First Tennessee's parent company, First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE:FHN). “We are committed to making our communities stronger, because we know that when our communities succeed, First Tennessee can succeed.”

Since 2014, HOPE Inside offices at First Tennessee have provided credit counseling to more than 2,400 participants through the 700 Credit Score Communities Program, which provides education on budgeting, debt management and building wealth.

“Operation HOPE is pleased to be part of the expansion of First Tennessee’s efforts to impact and uplift underserved communities throughout the state,” said John Hope Bryant, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE. “This investment in the HOPE Fund will allow Operation HOPE to extend its programming reach—teaching people the language of money, transforming financial mindsets, and empowering people with the tools they need to develop plans to move their lives forward by raising their credit scores, starting and growing businesses, or simply making better financial decisions.”

More information about the First Tennessee Financial Education & Empowerment Program is available from Melissa Duong of First Tennessee at (901) 523-4156 or [email protected]. More information about HOPE Inside credit counseling is available in the community engagement section of www.FirstTennessee.com or: 

• Memphis Crosstown: Sherita Goodman at (901) 485-0511 or [email protected]
• Memphis Orange Mound: Wanda McDonald at (901) 452-2102 or  [email protected]
• Nashville: Kenneth DeJarnette at (615) 258-4775 or [email protected]
• Knoxville Burlington: Deborah Porter at (865) 474-9270 or [email protected]
• South Knoxville: Kristie Blevins at (865) 577-8025 or [email protected]

About First Tennessee
First Tennessee Bank is the largest bank headquartered in Tennessee, with the number one deposit market share in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis and the Tri-Cities and a top-five deposit market share in Nashville. The FTB Advisors wealth management group has 313 financial advisors and $25 billion in assets under administration. First Tennessee was founded during the Civil War in 1864 and has the 14th oldest national bank charter in the country and one of the highest customer retention rates of any bank in the country. First Tennessee, FTN Financial and FTB Advisors are part of First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE:FHN), which has 4,300 employees. First Horizon has been recognized as one of the nation's best employers by Forbes, Working Mother and American Banker magazines. More information is available at www.FirstTennessee.com.

About Operation HOPE Inc.

Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to "silver rights" with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved. Through its core programs, the nonprofit has provided financial dignity and economic empowerment to over 2.6 million individuals worldwide, and $2 billion in economic activity for the disenfranchised—turning check cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners and minimum wage workers into living wage consumers.  Project 5117 is HOPE’s multi-year four-pronged approach to combating economic inequality that aims to improve financial literacy, increase business role models and business internships for youth, and stabilize the American dream by boosting credit scores. Operation HOPE recently received its second consecutive 4-star charity rating for fiscal management and commitment to transparency and accountability by the prestigious non-profit evaluator, Charity Navigator—further establishing it as a best-in-class organization. For more information: www.OperationHOPE.org. Follow Operation HOPE on Facebook and Twitter @OperationHOPE.

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Contact: James Dowd   (901) 523-4305  [email protected]
Kim Cherry   (901) 523-4380  [email protected]