In this week’s edition of Beyond the Cupola we take time to reflect on OSB’s history and how it impacts who we are today.
Pre-Depression
In the early 1900s, there were banks in all the small towns of Oconee County…Bishop, Bogart, Eastville, Farmington, and Watkinsville. When the Depression came along in 1929, all the banks went broke and Oconee County was without a bank for the next 30 years. Farmers and small merchants had to travel to Athens for their banking needs.
The Beginning
In 1958, a group of community leaders recognized the need for a bank in Oconee County and started a process of getting the necessary approval for a state-chartered community bank. In 1959, they announced that the FDIC had approved a community bank and Oconee State Bank opened its doors for business on February 1, 1960, with 3 employees and a small corner office on Main Street in downtown Watkinsville.
Because the local people had lost money in banks that went broke, it was important for the founders to promote the bank as a “locally-owned bank” that would be owned by local citizens who purchased original shares of stock. Thus, it would be a true community bank. One of the strengths of the bank was that it knew its customers and focused on serving the community as well as taking care of its employees and customers.
Today
This core value remains at the center of who we are today. We’re a community bank that was built to serve our community by those within the community. We put our customers at the forefront of everything we do because it’s who we were meant to be.
We’re not strangers from someplace you’ve never been to. We’re your neighbors, community members, and friends. We are proud to provide an unparalleled commitment to personalized service, value-added products, and a deep sense of responsibility to the communities we serve.