First State Community Bank
MULTIPLE CATEGORY WINNER
FSCB wins three category awards In this year’s Best of the Parkland, First State Community Bank was awarded first place in three categories: Best Bank Services, Best Employer/ Workplace, and Best Philanthropic Business. Additionally, First State Financial Management was chosen as a finalist in Financial Planning Service. The founders of the bank were part of Farmington’s tightknit community. During a time of economic struggle, businessman B.H. Jennings saw a need for locally-owned banking services in the region. Gathering investors, he formed First State Bank in 1954, now known as First State Community Bank. Still headquartered in its “hometown” of Farmington, FSCB has grown to include more than 50 locations throughout southeast, eastern and central Missouri and hires between 250-300 employees in
St. Francois County alone. “We are very communityoriented — that’s why the word community is in our name, and it’s something that we live by,” said FSCB President/CEO Matt Sebastian. “We encourage community involvement and community projects to enhance the lives of our residents, whether it may be in the form of making commercial loans for new businesspeople or contributing to a school project or community event. We encourage involvement from our employees’ standpoint.” According to Sebastian, having management and board members who are local to each bank is essential to FSCB’s spirit of encouraging a strong connection with every community in which they have a presence. “One of the things we do in these markets is have a
local board of directors,” he said. “There’s a lot of banks that don’t do that anymore. Fredericktown has its own board of directors made up of businesspeople from Fredericktown; Ironton’s got their own. “We have presidents at each one of our communities that we encourage to get involved. The reason we do that is twofold. Number one, it helps us to keep an eye on that community and what needs to be done. Two, they help us with good business decisions and feedback. A huge key to our success is that we’ve emulated this in every market that we’ve been in.” This is not the first time FSCB has been recognized in the Best of the Parkland. Asked how it felt to know that people in the Parkland think so highly of the bank, Sebastian said,
“We’re very proud of that fact. We give a lot in our communities. We do things that hopefully enhance the quality of life in our communities. We’ve been doing that for years. “We have what’s called an Impact Project that we do at each one of our branches every year. We pick some sort of charitable event — something that we can do for Habitat for Humanity, donating money to the food banks or building a playground over at My Sister’s Closet, different things like that. “This past year, we’ve doubled the amount we’ve contributed to the Impact Project because of the pandemic. We felt like we needed to invest more in our communities because everybody was struggling a little more than usual with what was going on. We’re more than just a bank.”
First State Community Bank is proud to be a part of the communities in which it serves. Pictured at the Farmington location from left are Matt Stites, loan officer; Lauren Brockmiller, loan coordinator; Skyler Carter, loan coordinator; Taylor Miller, mortgage loan officer; Greg Sebastian, loan officer; Darla Hayes, assistant vice president; Sarah Amsden, loan coordinator; Isabella Wisdom, deposit services representative; Ryan Montgomery, teller; Lisa LaPlante, receptionist; Matt Sebastian, president/CEO; Vickie Hatfield, safe deposit box representative; Gabby Collins, branch manager; Dan Combs, chief investment officer; Maggie Smith, financial crimes fraud specialist; and Dana Corcoran, Club & Community coordinator.
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