There they are. The students lined up and waiting for the bus as the new school year began. One child caught my eye on my drive this morning. A beautiful young girl who was so tiny that she could not come up to my knee. In a little dress which made her look like an angel!

No doubt this was her first day of school ever. I wondered what was racing through her mind. What the next 13 or 14 years (assuming she was entering kindergarten) would be like for her? What opportunities, especially in our region, would be there for her after she graduated?

Being a community bank and banker, we can think about these things and what role we play in our region’s future as well. What we can do to make a brighter future for this young lady and all those like her starting back to school today and in the coming weeks.

One of the keys to their future is for us to embrace the future and become a bank of the future – not a bank of the past. Each and every one of us needs to be prepared to learn, change, and embrace what our industry is moving towards. Otherwise, we may disappear like so many other banks which were set in their ways and fought change.

As for me, I want PVB to be around to see this young lady graduate. To be there for her to open her first account. Her first home. To see her stand by the road as one day her son or daughter gets on the bus for the first time.

That’s what community banking is about.

Have a great week.
– Leton

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“Letters From Leton” is a blog series comprised of the weekly updates that Leton Harding – President, Chairman, and CEO of Powell Valley National Bank, shares with the Bank’s team members. These newsletters are full of uplifting anecdotes and intriguing insights that are applicable beyond the Bank, so we want to share them with you.