Community Banks: Your Partner for All Things Small Business
Doing what needs to be done.
As a small business owner you may not always have everything you need to get the job done, but you always find a way, because you have to. When you bank with a local community bank, you are banking with a likeminded partner.
Community
banks know what it means to invest in a local community and focus on
providing value beyond being a successful business. Community banks want
to be your partner not just for today, but the future of your business.
Don’t settle for any banking relationship, bank local and gain a
partner in getting it done.
Banking. (Don’t yawn). While you’re busy serving your customers, your community and growing your business, finances and banking are in the background, an essential part of your business.
Your finances can be transactional or relational and successful business owners have learned the difference. Build a relationship with your local banker early so you have the support you need when you need it most, to fend off hardship or jump on an opporunity.
Unlike megabanks, community banks are entrenched in their communities and support small businesses through thick and thin. Their success is tied to their community and local small business customers they serve. Your success.
They can be your local advisor, financer, backer, supporter, and cheerleader. They are part of your community.
You Have Choices
Our bank locator makes it easy to find a community bank in your community—one that will be with you every step of your financial journey, in-person, online and beyond.
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Three Reasons to Bank Locally with a Community Bank
If you consider yourself a loyal patron of local businesses, it’s only natural for you to be banking locally, too. Beyond offering exemplary customer service and quality products and services, community banks directly benefit your community in three important ways:
1. When you bank locally, you reinvest into your community.
When you work with a large-scale national bank, you’re never quite sure how your money is being used. But when you bank local, there’s a tie back to the community, providing an opportunity to affect those you know and love.
“When you go to a community bank, and they know you are a community provider, they know OK, these are the opportunities that I see that we can do, that we can assist you with. And everyone’s working together for the betterment of the community,” said Curtis Faison, operating manager of CMC Transportation, a Raleigh-N.C.-based firm that transports special needs students in their area. “If we can keep the dollars moving around in our community, everyone is successful.” Hear more about their story here.
2. Community banks have a deep knowledge of community needs.
As trusted financial advisors and members of the community they serve, community bankers establish more personal connections than their mega-bank counterparts and are adept at understanding local market dynamics to anticipate the needs of their customers. For example, after Stephanie Moss, an owner of two salons on Omaha, Neb., was declined for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan on her first attempt with a large financial institution, she reached out to her community bank, who knew her and her role within the community.
“They were awesome, and right away said, ‘Absolutely, this is something we can help you with,’” Moss recalled. “You could tell these people were working day and night, and they were going to do everything they could to make it happen. I felt like they really had my back.”
3. They give back to the community.
Those relationships extend beyond customer interactions. As financial stewards of their community, community banks sponsor local events, promote financial literacy, create charitable foundations and contribute to local nonprofits—helping the community as a whole to thrive.
“We see our local banks starting to get more involved in our community,” said Scott Johnson, county manager for Columbia County in Georgia. “Sponsoring the fireworks for the Fourth of July or a food truck Friday, and things we had going on in the county. Community banks invest in the community.”
Going local with your banking allows you to strengthen your community—and help your neighbors and local small businesses. As you explore ways to support local businesses, consider moving or expanding your financial accounts with a community bank that shares your commitment to the needs and interests of those around you.
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