First Bank opened the Big Sandy branch on January 21st. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the cars parked along the streets until the streets were full. They opened the door and were busy all day. I was told by one of their customers, as we grabbed something to eat at Pep's, that he went into the bank about 3:45 on Tuesday to open an account. He said they stayed open till almost five to support community members opening accounts. Dean Comes, President of the Bank, came into Pep's to pay for the lunch of his staff. I introduced him to his customer, and he had remembered him from the day before. The Big Sandy resident said, "I never had an account at Wells Fargo. They didn't give a hoot about agriculture. You do, so I decided to open an account. "
Dean Comes acknowledges that it's hard and does take a little bit of time to set up a new account, but once it is set up, it's done. I loved the fact that the first Bank gives $10 gift certificates to local businesses for opening your new account. It's a great way to support local businesses.
I asked Dean comes what his initial thoughts about Big Sandy were. He said, "They are wonderful people. We came in here last night to eat, the whole bank crew, and when I went to settle up, someone had already paid the bill!" He told me he brought the A crew to help get started and that there would still be a couple come back next week to support the staff.
After opening the Mountaineer account, I had a chance to visit with Dona Harrison, Deposit Operations Manager. "It has been fantastic. The community is so supportive. It looks like Big Sandy wanted us to come as much as we wanted to. We want to thank the community for being so supportive and also, the current staff at the bank. They've worked hard and are ready.
First Bank brought six staff with them to help the first week of opening. They were busy all four days. The one thing they realized is that no one knows the phone number of the Bank, and they asked if I would publish the number. It is 406-378-2520; however, if you dial the old number, it will give you the new number.
First Bank rehired the same bank staff that was at the Wells Fargo. Gloria Godfrey said, "It's better than I envisioned. The people that came here to support the process can come back anytime."
Nicole Allderdice, who helped set up the Mountaineer account, said, "It's awesome. I love it!"
