NEWS
Heritage Bank to Launch the Heritage Community Foundation
by Leonard Moreland
Who is Heritage Bank?
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 still operating in the north metro, compared to just Heritage Bank in the south metro. The larger banks that took over those financial institutions mentioned earlier are denying our friends and neighbors new loans and calling those still outstanding. They don’t care about Fayette County, or Clayton County or Henry County. 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, means providing the services our customers need. But our responsibility to the community and to our customers doesn’t stop there. A few weeks ago, Rocky Davis introduced me 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. Rocky introduced them to a nonprofit 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. Jack Bowdoin just accepted the role of chairman of the Henry Council on Quality Growth. Has Jack been there before and done that sort of thing? Yes, many times over. But there is Jack trying to add value to the community and create a positive economic impact. Kerry Arnold is known as Mr. Rotarian. He picks up trash on the side of the highway in McDonough and tries to raise money for children to learn to read on the other side of the world. Dondra Clark just received an award from Leadership Clayton for service above and beyond expectation. They created the award because she deserved recognition. These stories happen all the time at Heritage Bank.
Who is Heritage Bank?
We are a caring group of individuals combined into one organization with the resources and the desire to help others, whether it is providing sound financial advice or offering 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, supporting organizations that many of us would not support directly. There is nothing wrong with the large nonprofits who do great work on a large scale; they just don’t have their fingers on the pulse of our communities. Local nonprofits have needs as well, and many have few resources. We want to help those nonprofits 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 and positive 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.
