BancorpSouth Joins MC School of Business Corporate Partners Program

Mississippi College School of Business leaders Thursday welcomed BancorpSouth as the newest member of its corporate partners program.

MC Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo was among the school officials on hand for ceremonies to formally add BancorpSouth into the program for the next three years.

“This means the world to us,” Eduardo told visiting BancorpSouth officials at Self Hall, home of the School of Business. “This is an honor for us.”

It’s a good fit for Mississippi College, the state’s largest private university with nearly 4,900 students, and the nation’s second oldest Baptist college. BancorpSouth is a longtime supporter of education at all levels in the region.

“The primary focus of BancorpSouth is education,” said Thomas Darnell, the company’s Jackson/Hinds County president. “Higher education is one of the key things we support,” added Darnell, who earned a master’s degree in business at MC. “It starts at the top of the company. Our leadership sets the tone.”

BancorpSouth Chairman and CEO Aubrey Patterson of Tupelo is a strong education advocate who serves on the state College Board. The Jackson-based higher education panel oversees Mississippi’s eight public universities. BancorpSouth serves education in other ways, whether it is the Magnolia Speech School or a Metro Jackson Teachers Program in partnership with the Metro Jackson Chamber of Commerce.

A 13.2 billion-asset bank holding company, BancorpSouth operates more than 300 locations in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas and Tennessee. Founded in 1876, the Tupelo-based company has more than 4,000 employees. On January 6, 2010, Forbes.com listed BancorpSouth as the 24^th “Best Bank in America.”

The Corporate Partners Program formally recognizes organizations that provide ongoing support for the MC School of Business.  The MC School of Business salutes corporate sponsors in its alumni magazines, on its website, at honors day awards presentations and conferences. Corporate partners also have the opportunity to participate in the MC School of Business Speaker’s Bureau and other events.

BancorpSouth will be in good company. Other corporate partners with the MC School of Business include Trustmark Bank, Ergon, Regions, Merrill Lynch, Coca-Cola, Huffman & Company, Bryson Insurance, Fox Everett Insurance and HORNE CPAs & Business Advisors.

Financial support from corporate partners helps strengthen the MC School of Business Center for Economic Education and Analysis that promotes a greater understanding of economics in Mississippi public and private schools.

Other BancorpSouth leaders on hand for the corporate partnership announcement  on the Clinton campus were Brad Maley, the first vice president of the Hinds County Retail Division, and Quentin Brewer, a branch manager and vice president with the bank’s Clinton office.

PICTURED (left to right) are BancorpSouth Jackson/Hinds County President Thomas Darnell, MC School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo, Bancorp South First Vice President Brad Maley of the Hinds County Retail Division, and Quentin Brewer, branch manager with BancorpSouth in Clinton.