SouthState Highlights ESG Commitment in 2024 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report

WINTER HAVEN, Fla., April 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SouthState Bank has released its fourth Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report, highlighting the company's commitment to its communities, colleagues, corporate stewardship and the environment.

"For 90 years, SouthState's focus on serving and strengthening the communities in which we live and do business has afforded us the opportunity to build meaningful and lasting relationships with many non-profit and community-based organizations across our six-state footprint," said LeDon Jones, director of Corporate Stewardship. "Through volunteerism, engagement, and philanthropy, we have impacted the lives of our customers, communities and our 5,000+ team members."

Highlights of the 2024 CSR report  include:

Commitment to Community:

• Awarded 1,839 organizations grants and contributions, totaling $5.8 million.
• Recorded a 28 percent increase in employee volunteer hours, totaling 15,352 hours with 905 different organizations.
• Made $1.39 billion in CRA-eligible loans.
• Extended $245 million in community development loans.
• Invested $89 million to foster economic development and affordable housing projects.
• Provided $567 million in affordable lending mortgage loan programs.

Commitment to Colleagues:

• Provided $229,000 in financial assistance to 101 team members through The Sunshine Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization funded by Company and employee contributions, which are used to assist employees with unexpected financial hardships.
• Continued the ReMARKable Leader program, an immersive 9-month program designed to cultivate internal high-potential leaders to take the next step in their career development. To date, 41 of our team members have graduated from the program, and they continue to contribute in new and unique ways to our Company.

Commitment to Corporate Stewardship:

• Maintained a tenured and diverse board of directors. Fifty-five percent of the Board has CEO-level experience, and 36 percent have senior executive experience at financial institutions.
• Implemented "Unconscious Bias" training for leaders in 2023, with plans to reach the remaining workforce in 2024.
• Launched an "Infoship" program, an 11-week virtual program that exposes college students to diverse careers in banking, facilitated by SouthState senior leaders.

Commitment to Environmental Resourcefulness:

• Ongoing investment in technology that enables customers and team members to access digital solutions for their needs. With 48 percent of accounts receiving eStatements, the bank's reduced environmental impact includes the following highlights:
  • 1.2 million gallons of water saved
  • 1.02 million pounds of CO₂ emissions saved
  • 67,000 pounds of solid waste reduction
  • 21.2 acres of forest saved

SouthState's CSR report  and more information are available on the bank's Corporate Stewardship page.

SouthState Corporation (NYSE: SSB) is a financial services company headquartered in Winter Haven, Florida. SouthState Bank, N.A., the company's nationally chartered bank subsidiary, provides consumer, commercial, mortgage and wealth management solutions to more than one million customers throughout Florida, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. The bank also serves clients coast to coast through its correspondent banking division. Additional information is available at SouthStateBank.com.