Nothing Sleepy about These Southern Banks

One day 15 years ago, Joe Edwards gave a speech to a group of Emory University students. was trying to get those folks excited about careers in community he recalls. Afterward, a student at the back of the room asked, Mr. Edwards, do you really think there will be community banks when we graduate from college ? All Edwards remembers is that he told the fellow he thought community banks had a good future. I wish he'd come meet me again today and I'd tell him I'm still here. If the student dropped by, what he would find might surprise him--a three-bank company that defies any simple classification. Friendly first-name service and family involvement coexist profitably with e-mail, imaging, mortgage banking, and voice response. In short, United Bank Corp., Barnesville, Ga., has not been standing still the past 15 years. Furthermore, the president of the $225-million assets company, situated about 60 miles south of Atlanta, realizes he can't stand still now either. Especially now. know we can't continue to do everything for every customer like we always have in the past, he says. On the other hand, Edwards doesn't think all community banks have to become niche banks. We're still general practitioners. Our customers expect that, and as long as we can make a profit, we'll continue to do it. But I'm convinced that in the future there will be a lot of things we'll do for our customers that we will not control completely ourselves. We'll bring them good, innovative services that someone else provides. The knowledge that it will take to deliver the products of the future is going to be so vast that we'll have to draw on resources other than our own. As for branches, We've got too many bank branches in the U.S., Edwards says. There will be fewer branches as we know them now, and more grocery-store banks and kiosk-type banks. These are less expensive and they let us go to the cus- tomer rather than the customer coming to us. That is the community bank of the future envisioned by the president of United Bank Corp., who is this year's chairman of ABA's Community Bankers Council. His banking organization--which had a return on assets of 1.8% and return on equity of 16.1% in 1994--is well on its way toward that vision. By the end of this year it will have installed a check imaging system, introduced a debit card, and opened a second supermarket branch. Last year, it opened its first supermarket branch, instituted a voice-response system that's receiving 30,000 customer calls a month, introduced two unusual certificates of deposit, began using an automated loan system, and opened a mortgage loan office, among other things. Teamwork can be a relative thing Though many of the ideas for these initiatives were his own, Edwards is quick to give credit for the banks' success to a solid management team that includes many members of his family, including his brother Bill, who is chairman of the holding company and president and CEO of United Bank of Griffin. (Joe Edwards is CEO of the other two bank subsidiaries, United Bank in Barnesville and United Bank of Pike County in ZebuIon.) In addition to his brother Joe Edwards has two sons, two nephews, and a niece who have joined the company in recent years. The company was founded by Joe and Bill's father, Joel Edwards, whose banking career spanned more than 65 years. Though she serves in no official capacity, Joe's wife, Pat, has always been actively involved in their community. According to Edwards, She's probably recruited more loyal customers for the bank in the last 20 years than I have. Brothers Bill and Joe have been partners in banking since 1979 and before that they ran the family peach-canning business together. They are in constant communication with each other throughout the day--by phone, car phone, e-mail, and in person--about pending loan deals, branch openings, community events, mutual friends' health, and so on. …