Do community banks provide unusual service to their communities? You bet!
Our second appeal for stories brought important and often unusual responses.
Several respondents told how their banks pitched in when disaster struck.
First Knox National Bank of Mount Vernon, Ohio, set up a disaster relief program after two days of flooding, wrote vice president Curt Cree. The bank funded and coordinated a relief program and gave all employees the opportunity to devote one workday to community service with full pay. It also offered low-cost loans to people with weather-related problems.
Independent bankers in Minnesota joined together to raise $200,000 for flood relief, according to Allen Olsen, president of the Independent Community Bankers of Minnesota. The banks also led efforts to collect contributions from others. And many bank employees were released to work at holding back the rivers, leaving only skeleton staffs on the job.
Disaster did not hit Catskill, N.Y., but Greene County Savings Bank has a program for financing volunteer fire departments. It has also developed ways for these volunteers to borrow at tax-exempt rates, president Bruce Whittaker wrote.
Similarly, Bank Calumet in Hammond, Ind., makes discounted mortgage loans to bring police officers into the communities it serves. Also, CEO Calvin Bellamy wrote, Bank Calumet led a 14-bank consortium in developing a counseling program for first-time homeowners, and formed focus groups to foster homeownership in lower-income areas.
The bank also has programs that bring students in to meet officers and discuss financial issues important to young people, Mr. Bellamy reported.
Education was also important in other responses.
Security State Bank of McCamey, Tex., makes unsecured loans for school clothes and supplies, wrote CEO Gary Edmiston. It even closed down for 35 minutes so everyone could attend a football pep rally.
Eagle Bank in Everett, Mass., has branches in the schools. Students gain work experience and graduation credits by working in the high school branches, the bank's Jennifer Biasetti wrote.
But New Richmond National Bank in Ohio takes a less scholastic approach. The 10 fireworks shows it sponsors every year provide the "most bank for the buck," John Greer quipped. Mr. Greer, the CEO, is also a licensed pyrotechnician.
The second part of our question was: "What does your bank gain out of all this?"
Business, said Mr. Greer. New Richmond National has doubled in six years, and has a 2.06% return on assets-with no marketing department, he wrote.
"Community involvement not only works, it's good business," Mr. Greer said.
Ms. Biasetti of Eagle Bank says helping the local schools attracts people to town-people who increase the bank's customer base.
At Interchange Bank of Saddle Brook, N.J., educational and good-works programs attract excellent employees who remain committed to the bank, wrote Ron Marin of BN Group in Randolph, N.J. BN advises Interchange.
From Ocean City, N.J., Steven Brady wrote that community involvement brings gratification and name recognition that generate deposits and loans for Ocean City Home Bank. Mr. Brady is its president.
But Mr. Bellamy of Bank Calumet saw a less direct payback. "The question implies there's a silver bullet," he wrote. "But there isn't any. What counts is the numerous things we do for our communities day after day and year after year.
"Does this guarantee customer loyalty? No, not really, but community commitment and involvement are still the right things to do. Quality of life makes a big difference on how we feel about where we live and also about how we feel about ourselves."
All in all, though, the best answer came from Carol Jones, assistant vice president of First Washington State Bank in Windsor, N.J. Ms. Jones, whose letter won her a day as president of our own Schmidlap National, wrote: "Our bank is a growing community bank. We support our communities with financial contributions and participation in their neighborhood projects. We have as a group helped build homes, formed a drop-off/contact point for donations of goods to assist needy families, sold 'mailbox bows' in our main office lobby to raise money for a local child with cancer, and distributed contribution canisters for a nonprofit day-care center so it could keep the doors open.
"Individually, our employees have been involved in various organizations, providing service to those in the area of their branch location or home residence.
"You ask, 'What is our bank doing that is special, and what value has community service provided to our bank?'
"As bankers we are usually looking to measure by a numerical or dollar value. But it is impossible to place a dollar figure on the value of the recovery of a child, or the heartfelt 'thank you' of all the people we have assisted during our individual and group community projects.
"How do you measure the boost to employee morale that unselfishly helping others gives? How do you measure the value of respect for the bank and its employees that was garnered by their enthusiasm and own personalities?
"I cannot assign a numerical or dollar value to our service projects, but I do think it has affected our growth in a positive manner, as well as having made our neighborhoods a better place to live and work in.
"I felt sorry for the thrift executive who said, 'We work for our communities and spend a fortune serving them. But if we get into trouble, no one cares; they just move to another bank.'
"We have not been 'in trouble,' but when we have needed assistance and have reached out to our local communities, they have been there to support us. Because we have been involved and formed personal relationships, their trust and respect gives them the freedom to tell us when they think we are going in a wrong direction.
"Isn't this what community banking is all about?"
