A strong local bank in Western Kentucky devoted to their customers
Bank of Edmonson County is a great example of a small bank who has a strong history of serving a specific locality. Founded in 1925, the bank survived the Great Depression and continued to grow substantially in asset size, eventually expanding to several branches in Bowling Green, Smiths Grove and Brownsville. They pride themselves on providing highly individualized and personal service to each of their customers, as well as being up to date on the newest and most convenient banking technologies.
Although there is not a lot of emphasis in their mission statement on impact banking, rather on providing great services and benefits to their customers, they do say their “primary lending focus will be on residential and small commercial real estate lending.” They also state their commitment to properly paying and caring for their employees.
Ideally, we’d like to see more on their website about the work they do rebuilding the communities they’re located in, but as most of their lending contributes to local housing, businesses and farms, this effect is inevitable. This is a phenomenon we saw often when examining banks in Bowling Green; while not setting out to provide banking services to underserved populations, they serve the people in their localities, many of whom are low and middle-class households.
This is an example of a bank with a highly local focus and personalized service, as well as a lending history in providing real estate loans for low and middle-class families in the area that is reflected in their statistics. Forty-eight percent of their loans support housing, with almost 80% of the housing loans going to low- and middle-income areas (meaning their DLI-HMDA percentage is almost 80%). Small business lending accounts for 24% of the Bank of Edmonson County’s loans, and, reflective of the area in which they’re located, 12% of their lending is small farm lending, particularly vital in this area. With an Outstanding CRA rating, they’re clearly able to back up their claims of exceptional service.
This bank excellently caters to the population they set out to serve, and in doing so, greatly support small communities in central Kentucky. Learn more at their website here.
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