Today, we’d like to introduce you to Chad Bowling.
Chad, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started banking as a teller 25 years ago and quickly found a real passion.
I was fortunate enough to work at both community and large banks along the way. I realized that community banking is more enjoyable and makes a huge difference in smaller communities where larger banks overlook many of them. I was part of a group that helped start a De novo bank in 2008. Once that bank sold, I always wanted to work for another community bank and make a difference in small markets.
A couple key people that helped start the De novo and three other Board of Directors purchased Barwick Banking Company out of Georgia. We recapitalized the bank and expanded it to Florida. We grew the bank from $11mm in only Barwick, Ga., to 5 locations between Florida and Georgia, with one more opening in the summer with assets over $460mm.
We are committed to these smaller markets that are very underserved. We value the towns we live in and hope to be a long-term partner of the towns, businesses, and citizens we live/operate in. We intend to provide the community with real banking services that have a common sense approach.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We’ve been able to overcome many obstacles along the way. We successfully navigated through the pandemic, raising capital and managing the rapid growth rate while maintaining the integrity of the bank’s assets.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
I’m the President/CEO of the bank. We are one of the few real Community Banks left. The bank can offer personal and business-related products. We work with many local businesses and hope that local people and businesses do the same by banking with a local Community Bank.
Our service and flexibility set us apart from the larger banks. We gather our deposits locally and lend them locally. Nearly 100% of our loans are in the towns we service. We continuously give back to the communities we are in.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
Banking locally makes a huge difference. We are easily accessible via phone call, text, and email.
Our online access is terrific and available to all.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.barwickbank.com
- Instagram: @barwickbankingcompany
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Barwick-Bank/pfbid0TGhoNuQXnNP49fo7nfskELWhravunnBEwsVNnV12cEjkA85nkeEewTHAVrhXMvFhl/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
