Our Mission is simple: “Committed to those we serve. We will be a specialized solution provider that adds value for our customers, creates a positive economic impact in our communities, and creates positive personal and professional opportunities for our employees.”
Together, Heritage Bank strives to make a difference. Consider the impact of losing First State Bank, First Henry Bank, Park Avenue Bank, First City Bank, Community Capital Bank, Washington Mutual Bank, Southern Community Bank, High Trust Bank, Wachovia, and McIntosh Bank. The communities we serve are lacking capital for growth and expansion. The north side of Atlanta has recovered and the south side struggles. The difference is the number of community banks in north metro where there are many compared to just Heritage Bank in south metro. The larger banks are serving the country from coast to coast. This is where we live; this is how our jobs and personal lives intersect and overlap. If visionaries and entrepreneurs can’t find capital and loans in a particular community they take their ideas to other communities and those communities prosper.
Who is Heritage Bank?
Deposits, loans, investments, and mortgages complete a nice neat puzzle that, when it comes together, it means providing the services our customers need. But our responsibility to the community and to our customers doesn’t stop there. I was introduced to a family that is trying to establish a field of dreams for handicapped youth baseball players. They have land but not many other resources. I met with these folks for a couple of hours and never mentioned deposits, loans or any other type of banking business. I introduced them to the south metro FCA executive to see if there were any synergies. We introduced them to a non-profit group that is trying to build an aquatic center but has no land. Who knows what will come of this, but there was Heritage Bank trying to make a difference in our community. There we were trying to add value and create a positive economic impact. Our reward may be indirect but may also pay great dividends. Our executives accept roles to serve on boards of local businesses. They have been there before and done that sort of thing; yes many times over. But we continue to try to add value to the community and create a positive economic impact.
Who is Heritage Bank?
We are a caring group of individuals when combined into one organization has the resources and the desire to help others whether it is providing sound financial advice or providing a helping hand to those in need. Just as many of our remaining banking competitors take deposits out of our local markets and loan them to giant corporations in Atlanta, New York and all across the world, large charities take our local contributions and distribute them in places many of us have never heard of and supporting organizations that many of us would not support directly. There is nothing wrong with the large non-profits who do great work on a large scale; they just don’t have their fingers on the pulse of our communities. Local non-profits have needs as well and many have few resources. We want to help those non-profits through our new foundation, Heritage Community Foundation. Heritage Bank will absorb all of the operating costs of the foundation so 100% of the funds raised will go directly to community needs. We have a board of directors made up of our employees representing all areas of the bank. The employees of the bank are the primary contributors to the foundation. Our employees will truly be trying to impact our community in an amazing way.
As a customer, if you are interested in donating to the Heritage Community Foundation, please contact Rocky Davis, Leonard Moreland, or Kathy Zovlonsky at 770-478-8881. We will be glad to help direct your contribution which is 100% tax deductible. We are excited about the launch of our company’s foundation on January 1, 2015 and we look forward to sharing with you the details to come.
