We know the strong links these banks have to the people and businesses in their communities provide firsthand knowledge of local economic conditions. My colleagues on the Board understand, as I do, that these close ties give community bankers special insight and understanding into local needs so that they can tailor their products and services to meet those needs.
Although community banks largely kept to their traditional business model of prudent, local lending and avoided the excessive risk-tasking that helped fuel the financial crisis, that crisis, and the deep recession that followed, devastated many communities and the banks that serve them.