A bank formed in 1872 in Wilson County has opened its third branch in Rocky Mount and is vowing to help small business owners.
BB&T, a bank that has several times in recent years been recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration as one of the top small business-friendly banks in the nation, has opened its new branch at 2632 Sunset Ave.
At a grand opening ceremony on Friday, bank officials vowed to help the community with financing needs despite the credit crunch that has frozen lending to small businesses throughout the country.
BB&T Northeast Regional President Steve Medlin said at the ceremony that “we have not forgotten where we’ve come from.”
“Our heart and our soul is in Eastern North Carolina, and it really defines who we are,” Medlin said. “So I think it’s really a great tribute for BB&T to open this facility in Rocky Mount in Eastern North Carolina at this time of economic turmoil and uncertainty.”
In an interview after the ceremony, he emphasized that the bank is focused on community lending.
“If you look at history of BB&T, we don’t make loans overseas. We don’t make loans to Fortune 100-type companies,” he said. “We’re trying to serve the communities where we have branches.”
As of Sept. 30, BB&T Corporation has $137 billion in assets; operates approximately 1,500 banking offices in 11 states and Washington, D.C.; and has 31,000 employees.
The bank’s roots started in the aftermath of the Civil War.
“Eastern North Carolina lay tattered, battered and torn ... an easy mark for profiteers and politicians bent on destroying what little remained. There was no money, no law and precious little trust or faith in the once-proud institutions of the South,” the bank’s Web page states.
A bank founder, Alpheus Branch, was the son of a wealthy planter in Halifax County.
He first came to Wilson to attend Deems Military Academy. Branch established a small mercantile business called Branch and Company. Through his business and community involvement, he came to know Thomas Jefferson Hadley, a Wilson County native who was trying to organize the first system of public schools. They joined forces in 1872 to create what would eventually be known as BB&T.
“As private bankers, Branch and Hadley accepted time deposits, paid interest and loaned money to help rebuild the farms and small businesses in the community. With a place to borrow money at reasonable interest
to buy seed and fertilizer, area farmers planted their fields in cotton and in the early 1880s, experimented with a new money crop, tobacco,” the Web page states.
To celebrate the opening of the new Rocky Mount branch, the bank showcased the BB&T Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer and Richard Childress racing. Children were treated to a mini racetrack, moonwalk, and face painting exhibit.
Several Rocky Mount City Council members were in attendance. Mayor David Combs said he was delighted to see the attractive new bank building in a location that had become an eyesore after the 1999 flood.
“This facility now is absolutely gorgeous,” Combs said.
Combs also noted the bank’s reputation for being committed to small businesses.
“They serve a great purpose here in Rocky Mount,” Combs said. http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/

source: http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/