In celebration of Community Banking Month, Joelle Yarbrough shares her deep-rooted passion for the community bank experience.

When I was in primary school in Twin City, GA, employees from our local community bank would visit our school, and if our parents had opened a savings account for us at that bank, we were able to make a deposit on the day of those visits. I remember going to the library to do “my banking”. I had a little green deposit booklet where the bank employee would write down the amount of my deposit and the balance of my savings account, and then she would officially stamp it. I felt so important.

I would awaken early on Saturday mornings to ride with my Daddy to make our weekly trips “into town”. One of our stops was that same community bank. Of course, at the time, my favorite part of visiting the bank was seeing the smiling, familiar faces of the ladies behind the teller line and getting that much beloved lollipop. The bank president would always step out of his office to greet us. Once again, I felt so important.

When I got my first (non-family farm) job at a local grocery store, when I was sixteen, I opened my checking account at that same community bank. I was so proud. Back then, we didn’t receive images of checks and deposits in our statements, so when I deposited my first paycheck the teller made a copy of it for me to keep. She made me feel important.

The people at my hometown bank had made such an impact on me. My senior year of high school, I along with my classmates, was asked the obligatory question, “What are your plans for the future?” In my innocence, I said that I would attend the University of Georgia and someday become the president of a bank in my favorite city, Savannah, GA. I saw that working for a bank would make me important.

I did move to Athens to attend UGA. While attending school, I knew I needed to get a job. My sister had worked one summer at a local community bank and her father-in-law served as Chairman of the Board of Directors. I knew that bank had a great reputation in the community, so I gave it a shot and submitted my application and resume. I had the privilege of interviewing with Miss Peggy Hardigree and was hired by Oconee State Bank. I started off as a teller at the Friendship Branch. I moved on to the Marketing Department where I was able to visit local elementary schools to operate the OSB Kids Bank once a month. My hope is that I made at least one child feel like the most important customer of the bank just as I did as a youngster.

I have since worked in various departments and have learned many aspects of banking that never crossed my naïve mind my senior year of high school or at that simulated bank in the school library. In each position that I have held and in being a customer of Oconee State Bank, I have always been made to feel that I am an important part of this remarkable community bank.

I hope, by now, you have seen the theme throughout my story. The community bank experience made me feel important. Community banks value their customers and their employees. We are family. As the Cheers theme reminds us, “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came”. It just makes you feel good to walk into an Oconee State Bank lobby and immediately be greeted, by name, from a familiar, smiling face.

Joelle Yarbrough, AAP
Accounts Payable & Internal Control Specialist