Why Community Banks Matter - Op/Ed

The Bank of Southside Virginia (BSV) regularly donates to Dinwiddie County Youth Baseball, Prince George High School Athletics, and the Highlands Swim Team. These donations help young individuals learn sports, develop habits, and understand team play.

BSV supports local youth sports teams to inspire future leaders with strong character, knowing these grassroots investments are crucial for the towns in Southside Virginia that BSV serves.

The Bank of Southside Virginia recently marked 120 years in banking, a rare achievement in today’s era of digital finance and frequent mergers. This longevity is commendable, and I am proud of our independence.

At BSV, we’ve done something simple and powerful by remaining rooted in the communities we serve. We make our decisions locally. We lend to the people we might sit next to at a ballgame, worship with on Sunday and see at the grocery store—all in the same weekend. We understand how important small-town businesses are to the people who live here.

That’s the foundation of community banking: local relationships and local values. It’s why banks like ours still matter.

In fact, community banks like BSV are the impetus for the financial viability of our markets. In the most basic terms, we know our customers better. While our loan portfolios are quickly dwarfed by those of the big banks, we hold an impressive share in our niche markets of commercial real estate (30%), small business (36%) and agriculture (70%).

The number of community banks has decreased significantly over the past two decades. According to the FDIC, the number of small banks has reduced by nearly half, from 7,500 to approximately 4,000 today, due to mergers often occurring among community banks and fewer new banks being established.

We’re the only community-owned bank left in Southside Virginia and one of only 57 anchored in our state. In many cases, a community bank might be the only financial institution within a county or even a more isolated region.

There’s something irreplaceable about that kind of proximity. Consider our example about the local sports teams. We’re seeing the individual players—and their parents. That context allows us to meet people where they are, with services tailored to the culture, economy and momentum of our local towns.

The effect of these relationships is evident in daily operations. When a branch associate is absent, some regular customers prefer to return when that staff member is available due to their established rapport over years of transactions and interactions. Regular customers might also delay their visits if the specific staff member is on vacation.

That’s the beauty of serving your neighbors.

In the last 10 years alone, we’ve invested more than $475,000 in 816 local initiatives, from fire departments and school programs to youth sports and historic preservation efforts. We’re not a distant donor; we’re on the ground, showing up, giving back and often rolling up our sleeves to help.

Being the only community-owned local bank left in Southside Virginia is both a privilege and a responsibility. We take it seriously. That’s why we’ve built one of the nation’s strongest-performing community banks through careful, smart decision-making. Stability isn’t just good for our shareholders. It’s essential for the customers who trust us with their homes, farms and businesses. And more than that: their futures.

Of course, we’re evolving. We’ve invested in digital tools, streamlined online services and reintroduced our brand with a message that says it all: Great bankers. Even better neighbors. Because while the way people bank might change, the why behind what we do hasn’t. We still believe in building long-term relationships. We still believe in being available when it matters most. We still believe banking should be personal.

Some say community banks are a throwback. I disagree. I think we’re exactly what the future needs: responsive, rooted and real. In a world that often feels too big and impersonal, we bring banking back to a human scale. And that’s something worth preserving for the next 120 years and beyond.

Will Clements is the Chairman and CEO of the Bank of Southside Virginia.