Article was written by Steve Fopma, Leighton State Bank’s President and CEO.
The above question was posed to the leadership and board of the bank a few weeks back, and after a little discussion, we soon had identified several reasons why we as a bank firmly believe it makes a significant difference for the community. Following are just a few of the benefits we identified.
Profits generated in the community stay in the community – as profits stay in the community they will get reinvested back into the local economy stimulating further economic activity in the local market.
Capital generated in the community stays in the community – similar to profit, when capital stays in the community it remains available to support other capital investment and reinvestment back into the local economy. Capital investment not only creates immediate economic benefit it also establishes the infrastructure for long term ongoing economic activity.
[Callout text=” We firmly believe it makes a difference and we welcome you to bank with us and keep your hard-earned dollars working in the local community. It is simply the right thing to do!”]
The interests of ownership are also vested in the community. Ownership knows and sees the local needs and will naturally be charitable and philanthropic towards the needs of the local community. When it is time to ask the ownership to support a local cause most often they are already fully aware of and informed because they personally have already determined to support the same causes.
One additional comment made really struck me – “It is simply the right thing to do.” Combining all of the above thoughts, the individual expressed the opinion that if the local market is helping business prosper and be successful, is not the right thing to do to allow the outcomes of that success benefit the local community?
At Leighton State Bank we are proud to be a locally owned community bank – and after the above discussion, we reaffirmed our commitment to remain that way so that we can continue to reinvest into the local market and communities we serve. We firmly believe it makes a difference and we welcome you to bank with us and keep your hard-earned dollars working in the local community. It is simply the right thing to do!