I wonder if we fully realize and appreciate the effect that Community Banks and Credit Unions have on our communities. Their personal touch with generations of customers (grandparents, to parents to today\u2019s generation) is remarkable. They support community development with discussions on strategic investment and long-term viability. But have you ever thought about the depth of influence these local institutions have on us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously we recognize the compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act<\/strong> (CRA) and support that Community Banks provide by CRA lending and education.\u00a0 Both Credit Unions and Community Banks are active in lending to small businesses, local farms, and other locally based companies. \u00a0And with COVID-19, it was our local Community Banks and Credit Unions that facilitated customers obtaining financial support through the governments PPP program. All of this is commendable and exciting but is there even more that Community Banks and Credit Unions do for their communities?<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this day and age of ESG and many social challenges the question arises: Can we turn to Community Banks and Credit Unions for leadership? The answer is an unequivocal \u201cYES\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I remember growing up in a small community with a local community bank. The President of that bank would referee local basketball games. The Vice President would coach little league baseball. They were always active in youth activities and even had bankers come talk to us at school about saving and investing. I remember receiving my first piggy bank from that bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I got older I began to notice that employees of that bank would volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and other charities. Not sending money but actually working hard on their Saturdays and Sundays. I attended meeting with the Chamber of Commerce, the Local Jaycees and Kiwanis Clubs and would listen to bank officer\u2019s talk about the community, strategies for success and for attracting new investments in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I would read comments about local bank leadership in the newspaper on topics as diverse as agricultural trends, business risks, and even social issues like equal rights, civil rights, and access to education. In all of these instances I noticed that people listened. People engaged with these local leaders. Citizens of all ages actively sought out advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As my mother often said, \u201cactions speak louder than words.\u201d And the actions of these local leaders and staff spoke very loudly. And they continue to speak today. So, in this time of ESG, economic concerns, social challenges and in general a sense of unease the question remains; can we turn to leaders of our Community Banks and Credit Unions for advice, support and leadership? Of course we can, they have been doing that very thing for a long long time and they have been doing it very well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I wonder if we fully realize and appreciate the effect that Community Banks and Credit Unions have on our communities. Their personal touch with generations of customers (grandparents, to parents to today\u2019s generation) is remarkable. They support community development with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8174,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-risk-management"],"yoast_head":"\n