Independent Banker - August 2021 - 50

Member Milestones
First National Bank's family legacy
" I never dreamed I would come work here, " says Jay
Kennedy, who has been president and CEO of $60 millionasset
First National Bank in Frankfort, Kan., since 2009. His
great-grandfather helped found the community bank in 1921
and was its first president. Over the course of his career,
his grandfather, William Francis Kennedy, known to his
customers as W. F., bought out minority shareholders and
turned the bank into a family-owned business.
Jay Kennedy, who grew up thinking he'd become a history
teacher and an athletic coach, married a farm girl from
Frankfort and had two daughters. He began working as a
loan officer at a different bank in Emporia, Kan., where he
went to college, but soon moved back to his hometown and
began learning the banking business in earnest.
Although times have changed, the fundamentals of
how to treat customers have not. " We don't need to have
a fancy marketing plan, because if Joe comes in here and
needs something extra on his checking account, we'll do it, "
Kennedy says. " I'm going to say 'yes' to a customer and then
follow the rules, not the other way around, because it's the
relationship that matters. "
Kennedy hasn't yet identified a successor to lead the
community bank down the line. Like he did, his children may
have other dreams.
" My daughters understand the bank's history and they
respect it, but I didn't come to work here to force a legacy on
them, " he says. " They [don't have] the bug, and they haven't
said, 'Hey, I want to go into banking.' And that's fine with me. "
Left: First National Bank employees,
including several second- and thirdgeneration
community bankers and current
president Jay Kennedy's family members,
attend the community bank's 50th
anniversary open house.
Below: A half-century later, First National
Bank's current employees pose for a photo
around the bank's 100th birthday while its
office is remodeled.
employees. Many times, these
employees stay with their
community banks for decades,
steadily climbing the ladder.
Bob Gillis, president of
$850 million-asset Cape Ann Savings
Bank in Gloucester, Mass., plans
to retire this summer and hand the
reins to Marianne Smith, who began
working at the community bank as
a teller in the late 1980s. She will be
the community bank's 15th president
and its first woman president.
" It would be an honor to be the
next president of this bank, " she
says, " but to be the first woman, it
takes it to a whole other level. "
Recruiting talented employees
is a must-do for community banks
hoping to stay the course. Marty
Connors, president and CEO at
Rollstone Bank & Trust in Fitchburg,
Mass., which is celebrating its 175th
anniversary this year, says he's
hoping that more young people join
the community banking industry so
that community banks can better
maintain their workforces.
Despite the stagnant or shrinking
populations of smaller communities
like Frankfort, some businesses
struggle to hire appropriate levels of
staff. However, Kennedy says he sees
signs of hopeful change emerging:
The pandemic and its lingering
effects on remote work have caused
many Americans to consider a move
to more rural communities with a
cheaper cost of living.
" With technology, people are
working from home, raising their
kids where they want to raise them,
and still working for a Fortune 500
company, " he says.
Hurst agrees, pointing to the
attractive natural amenities of a
rural community like the one home
to Del Norte Bank.
" There's a brand-new wave of
people moving out of metropolitan
areas and looking for smaller
communities, " he says. " If you have
a mountain, a river, or trails-and
we have all three-the future looks
Independent Banker - August 2021

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