For more than 50 years — 51, in fact — the Bank of Cadiz & Trust Company has focused on community finance, dealing face-to-face with families and small-business owners in the tri-county area for a plethora of needs.
This success has spread from the heart of Trigg County and into Hopkinsville and Murray, where branches of the company have successfully unfurled to provide extended services for the region.
President & CEO Kevin Atwood joined the Bank of Cadiz in 2004, and since has watched nearly 20 years of growth not just for the bank, but for this corridor from Calloway to Christian County.
And that’s an unusual thing, Atwood said, because the number of local banks in the country are on the decline — as larger banks continue to buy up credit and debit, and swallow up smaller entities into conglomerates.
That pressure can make things more difficult on the front end of major regulatory issues, but Atwood notes being a smaller bank means more personal customer service and intimate discussions about business.
As far as business profiles are concerned for the company, Atwood said the main bulk of processing comes through home loans and rental property, with strong sectors in small-business and agricultural lending.
But a more surprising, and extremely integral, part in the Bank of Cadiz clientele includes the Amish communities within southwestern Kentucky — as they continue to build simple, sturdy homesteads and raise families.
Expanding into other communities isn’t in the plans at this time, Atwood noted, as Cadiz, Hopkinsville and Murray continue to provide ample opportunity for community relationships, business and support.
But in order to thrive for another 50 years, staying connected and relevant remains ever-important — especially as technology and industry develop at warp speeds in the banking world.
Atwood said the short and long-term goals for the Bank of Cadiz bear similarities: stay up-to-date with the digital world, stay committed to local business, and stay connected with those who helped get the bank to this jubilee moment — while embracing new customers and new ideas.
That starts with the possibility of more ATM kiosks and continued online availability, to improve accessibility to banking services from home and on the road.
The Bank of Cadiz was chartered April 22, 1970 and opened for business on August 7, 1970, with nearly 200 shareholders invested in the bank after being organized by George Bleidt, William E. Fuller, John O. Hill, T. Lacy Jones, Vance Leneave, Willard Lester, Boyd Thomas, M.W. “Chuck” Thomas, Roger Thomas, Ross Thomas and others.
