Independent Banker - September 2022 - 53

The $700 million-asset bank serves
customers in northern Iowa and
southern Minnesota.
The crowded market creates added
competition for banks and raises
concerns about predatory lending
practices. " They're always touting a
convenient way to access credit, and
that can be concerning, because you
may be dealing with an untrusted
partner, " says Busta. " If you get into
financial difficulty, it's difficult to tell
how they might work through that
process, whereas community banks do
a good job of educating their customer
on where fundamentals are at. "
Baller concurs. " Sometimes we'll
see some aggressive pursuit by
creditors to acquire new customers
by offering a low rate but not backing
it up with service that will continue
during the challenging times, too, " he
says. " It's easy to offer a low rate in the
good times, but the key is to have the
service and support to get through the
challenge, and also to help customers
avoid those challenges. "
Given the pressure on rising
operating costs, a number of
customers are pinching pennies and
shopping loans on rate, notes Mudd.
In some cases, Silex Bank does bend
on pricing to remain competitive. " If
you identify a quality loan, a quality
customer or a new relationship that
you're targeting, you may have to
go outside your lending guidelines a
bit to price the loan to make it more
attractive to the borrower, such as a
matching offer, " he says.
Another key differentiator
community banks offer is personal
service. The ag lenders at Silex
Bank-who hail from local ag
backgrounds-try to make the
application process as easy as possible
for customers with quick turnarounds
made in-house by a voting loan
committee or board of directors. In
addition, customers like to know that
they can walk into the office and speak
to an available lender or even the
Terry L. Bunnell (center),
president/CEO of The
Peoples Bank, forged a
solid partnership with
Doug and Genelle Jones of
Legacy Dairy.
Customer Story
LEGACY DAIRY, HISEVILLE, KY.
The Joneses are a fourth-generation farm family with big ideas
for the family dairy in Hiseville, Ky. Their vision was to not just
produce milk, but to process, bottle and sell direct to the local
community in northern Barren County. Doug and Genelle Jones
believed that a specialty dairy would resonate with customers
who wanted to support local farmers and know where their
products were coming from.
The Joneses needed financing for the bottling equipment
and facility for Legacy Dairy. After being turned down by three
other banks, they turned to $114 million-asset The Peoples Bank
in Glasgow, Ky. " The other banks were really closed-minded and
didn't really want to hear what we had to say, " says Doug Jones.
The Peoples Bank, led by chairman, president and CEO Terry
L. Bunnell, not only listened to the Joneses' business plan; they
asked for more information that gave them the confidence to
approve the loan.
Legacy Dairy began selling its milk in March 2020. Today, the
dairy is producing 100 gallons of milk per day and selling every
drop with sales that are exceeding their original expectations
by more than 25%. The Jones family is now looking at expansion
options with different milk products, such as ice cream and
agritourism. " We have many other things that we want to do, "
says Jones.
independentbanker.org Q 53
Photo by Linkes Photography
http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - September 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - September 2022
