Message from the President | Special Edition

The Strength of Community Banks

Now that we have had some time to digest the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, I’m reminded of just how strong and safe community banks are. Prior to these two banks dissolving, we had the financial crisis of 2008 and the bank bailout entitled the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008”. This Act provided $700 billion in funds to purchase toxic assets from troubled banks. The majority of these funds were scooped up by the Big Banks. Guess who didn’t need these funds? CNB.

More recently, the coronavirus pandemic devastated the economy. In an effort to keep small businesses afloat, the federal government created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) which provided relief to impacted businesses in the form of forgivable low rate loans. Guess who stepped up in these dark times to lead the way? Not the Big Banks… CNB and all community banks. As Jim Cramer famously said regarding his businesses on an episode of CNBC’s Squawk Box, “I should have used a community bank.”

The banks which have recently failed are regional banks. They focused on very specific high-risk industries such as cryptocurrency and technology industries catering to venture capital companies. With risk comes reward, but also failure. Guess who doesn’t serve these risky industries? CNB.

So round and round we go. The headlines in the media now state companies and consumers are considering moving their money to the Big Banks. Why? Haven’t we learned by now our community banks are strong, safe, conservative and here to stay?

At CNB, our capital is extremely strong, our assets are diverse and conservative, and we serve our local markets; markets we live in. We have all the technology, products and services of the Big Banks but with one thing they don’t have; dedicated people. Here, you are not just a number. When you call you speak to a member of the CNB family not a robot. We can service you quickly and with a smile!

My hope for this country is that one day, we learn from our missteps and realize sometimes the best option for our banking needs is to stay local. CNB has been around for over 100 years. We will be here for 100+ more!