RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Capital One Bank announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with The Metropolitan Business League (MBL) and Southside Community Development and Housing Corporation (SCDHC) to create economic opportunities in Richmond. The alliance will help emerging minority-owned businesses learn and apply business-management techniques and make information technology available to businesses that currently don't have access.

"This partnership will have long-term effects on our community by creating economic and technological opportunity and empowerment for a broad spectrum of people," said John G. Finneran, Executive Vice President, Corporate Counsel for Capital One Financial Corp. "Capital One's commitment is an investment in the people and in the city of Richmond."

Capital One presented a grant of $100,000 to MBL to be used for the creation of the MBL Technology Resource Center, which will be located at 318 North Second Street. The grant is a three-year commitment to develop and build an accessible state of the art technology center to bridge the existing technology gap and strengthen economic development within the local business community.

"The Metropolitan Business League is excited about bringing to reality its Technology Resource Center," said Lynda Sharp Anderson, President and CEO of MBL. "The concept has long been in the planning stages, but without the financial resources to bring it to fruition. Having shared the vision with Capital One, they immediately captured the spirit of the effort and created a partnership that brings us to a higher level."

Capital One gave SCDHC a grant of $225,000 earmarked for the capital improvement of the 10,000 square foot Southside Community Enterprise Center located on Hull Street. Southside's goal for the Enterprise Center is to create a business incubator and revitalize the community through economic empowerment. In addition to business incubation, the Enterprise Center will offer entrepreneurial training and job creation, micro loans, and employment training, counseling and placement. It will also provide computer-based training, homebuyer counseling, youth mentoring, family counseling and a resource center.

"The Enterprise Center will be a nerve center, bridging economic development and homeownership simultaneously, from which entrepreneurs, individuals and families in the community can access self-sufficiency building resources and create economic development synergy," said James W. "Bo" Middleton, Jr., Executive Director of SCDHC.

To further the partnership, Capital One announced an additional grant of $10,000 to the MBL to cover MBL membership fees for businesses completing SCDHC's Enterprise Center requirements.

The MBL is a not-for-profit business membership organization dedicated to minority business development, and represents the interests of more than 300 minority owned businesses in the metropolitan Richmond area. It was organized in 1968, and is an outgrowth of The National Business League, which was founded in 1900 by Dr. Booker T. Washington.

The SCDHC is a non-profit community development corporation established in 1989. The organization is committed to improving the quality of life for disenfranchised families in the Old South District of Richmond by raising the economic, educational and social levels of community residents.

Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, Capital One Financial Corporation (http://www.CapitalOne.com ) is a holding company whose principal subsidiaries, Capital One Bank and Capital One, F.S.B., offer consumer lending products. Capital One's subsidiaries collectively had 29.4 million accounts and $24.2 billion in managed loans outstanding as of September 30, 2000. Capital One is one of the major financial service providers on the Internet, with online account decisioning, real-time account numbering, online retail deposits and a growing number of customers serviced online. Capital One is a FORTUNE 500 company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 500 index. SOURCE Capital One Bank

CONTACT: Hamilton Holloway of Capital One, 804-934-5900, or email: Hamilton.holloway@capitalone.com; or Angela Duncan of the Metropolitan Business League, 804-649-7473, or email: aduncan@thembl.com; or Aubrey Fountain of Southside Community Development and Housing Corporation, 804-231-4449, or email: AWFountain@aol.com/