Southern Bancorp in Little Rock, Arkansas, is among the biggest beneficiaries of the $8.7 billion Emergency Capital Investment Program the Treasury Department unveiled two years ago. Now, CEO Darrin Williams says he's busy putting the $250 million in low-cost equity capital his community bank received to work. 

The process has run him a little ragged, Williams admitted in a recent interview. 

"We have opportunity frustration," Williams said. "There are so many opportunities. Part of my role here is to really crystallize and focus on those that will have the deepest impact on people and this organization. … I'm staying up nights trying to figure out how to make this all work."

To be sure, an overabundance of capital isn't a bad problem for a bank to have, especially a $2.6 billion-asset community development financial institution that struggled to raise it in the past. Between 2017 and 2021, Williams conducted a campaign that raised $50 million — a fifth of what the Treasury Department invested in Southern in July 2022. 

The bank's plans for deploying the ECIP cash include a major investment in home lending, boosts to consumer and Small Business Administration lending, as well as pursuit of mergers and acquisitions. The ultimate aim is to double Southern's size over five years — the idea being a bigger bank can do more to help disadvantaged communities.