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Texas Banking October 2017

By Olivia Carmichael Solis

Just seconds after a tweet announced the formation of the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund, the Texas Bankers Foundation had its first contribution. And the money kept coming in, to the tune of $1.2 million.

Bankers, customers, vendors and bankers associations from all over the nation contributed to the fund, which was set up by TBA and IBAT. The money was earmarked for bank employees who suffered property losses due to Hurricane Harvey.

Many banks publicized the relief fund in their lobbies and received donations from customers. At one bank, a 91-year-old customer from Uvalde gave $100,000 because she saw the devastating images on TV and wanted to help. Some held creative promotions, such as “Casual Days” and “Dress Down Days” in their banks to encourage employees to donate. Many offered to match their employees’ donations. Others held old-fashioned bake sales.

Most banks contributed directly to local and national relief efforts. Many of the nation’s biggest banks immediately pledged contributions of $1 million or more for relief efforts, while banks of all sizes pledged donations of varying amounts to a number of relief organizations.

One banker, Mark Bayer of Shippensburg, Pa.-based Orrstown Bank, called TBA just days after the hurricane struck the Texas coast. His bank had begun taking donations for much-needed supplies and was planning on delivering them to Texas in a 53-foot tractor trailer. Initially, the bank requested water, diapers and baby wipes. But good-natured customers augmented the list with toiletries, handmade quilts, pillows and other items. Local dentists donated toothbrushes and toothpaste. A bank customer donated the tractor trailer and driver.

A tractor trailer filled by Orrstown Bank with much-needed supplies is bound for Texas.

The bank also held “Jeans with Meaning” days in which employees “paid” for the option to dress down. More than $4,000 was collected from that effort to go toward supplies, while customers donated $2,500 to the Red Cross via a bank microsite.

“We decided to help out because that is a cornerstone of our mission as a community bank,” said Bayer. “Usually that means closer to our own backyard, but this time we saw a bigger need and we knew we had to lend a helping hand.”

That theme — bankers helping communities — resonated throughout the banking industry. Although most banks took immediate steps to help customers, such as waiving fees and deferring late payments, almost all took their involvement to a higher level, pitching in to clean homes and feed first responders, gathering and distributing much-needed supplies and raising money to help impacted families, including their own banking families.

At a CommunityBank of Texas “hero branch,” employees worked off a generator on the back of a pickup truck with candles and battery-powered lamps.
First Community Bank, Corpus Christi delivered water and other supplies to Rockport.
Woodforest National Bank raised funds through the branch network.

Houston Strong

Several areas in Texas were hit hard by Harvey but the Houston area, with images of dangerous rescues in flooded homes and streets, dominated the news coverage for days.

The Woodlands-based Woodforest National Bank has 5,000 employees spread across 17 states. The Greater Houston area, however, is home to the biggest percentage of its employees. So, when Hurricane Harvey pounded the Houston area for days, Woodforest teams from other areas of the state pitched in to help. For example, the Dallas-Fort Worth area manned the hotline and took rollover calls from the customer call center.

The bank’s primary objective was to resume business as usual in the affected areas. Woodforest worked together as a team to coordinate shifts and bring in additional resources to manage the branches so impacted employees could have the necessary time to take care of their homes and families.

“The commitment of our local teams to work additional shifts and at different locations in order to resume business for customers was amazing,” said Allison Carpentier, senior vice president digital channels for Woodforest National Bank.

In addition, regional managers worked with Woodforest branches and branch managers to get volunteer groups together to help where needed. Many employees have donated their time to a variety of recovery efforts through churches and other non-profit organizations. A coordinated volunteer effort was established to assist Interfaith of The Woodlands with their donation drive.

The Woodforest Charitable Foundation made a large donation to Interfaith of The Woodlands to support persons in South Montgomery County who were affected by the floods. September fundraising efforts through the branch network will be donated to the Salvation Army for Hurricane Harvey storm relief.

Taking care of its employees and customers were top priorities. Donations from employees and vendors/partners for employees who suffered damages from the hurricane will be matched by the bank and delivered as grants to those employees. Approximately 5 percent of Woodforest’s employee population — about 90 employees — were directly impacted by the storm.

Monetary donations received by Woodforest during September benefitted the Salvation Army.
A Woodforest National Bank employee volunteers at Interfaith.

At Amegy Bank of Texas, a division of Zions Bancorp., relief efforts focused on offering assistance to 1,900 local employees and their families.

Relief efforts began even before Hurricane Harvey made landfall. Although it was unclear where the hurricane might hit, San Antonio CEO David McGee assembled a team and started putting together truckloads of items employees might need. He coordinated efforts with a team of Dallas employees, who also gathered items. Once it was clear Houston would be hit, the teams focused on the delivery of the items.

McGee notes that their preparation and planning was helped by prior experience with Hurricane Ike in 2008, where they had taken shipments of batteries, food, water and baby items to affected employees.

After Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, Amegy Bank CEO Steve Stephens and Zions Bancorp President and COO Scott McLean asked McGee to assemble a larger team of people to come to Houston as soon as possible. An employee hotline was set up for employees to request needed items, which included baby items, water, cleaning supplies, mold prevention spray, dog food and snacks.

“Delivery was a logistical challenge,” McGee noted. About 60 employees — out of a total 150 bank volunteers — delivered the items directly to employees. They used trucks and vehicles with four-wheel drives to hand-deliver the items to shelters, houses or wherever the employees were staying.

In addition, employee volunteers were recruited to clean damaged houses — remove sheet rock, rip out carpet, clean up and move furniture. “This was some of the messiest stuff I’ve ever seen,” McGee said.

Amegy also helped its employees financially: through a temporary housing allowance of $160 a day for up to two weeks; nearly $900,000 in grants to cover hurricane damage; interest-free loan packages; and grants from donations made by Zions employees through the Texas Employee Relief Fund.

The tragedy, McGee said, brought the bank employees closer together as a family. “Several employees have lost everything,” he said. “It was amazing to see the outpouring of people wanting to help.”

McGee credits the generosity of Zions Chairman Harris Simmons, as well as Stephens and McLean, who “without hesitation were willing to give us the resources to put lives back together.”

Amegy Bank also took care of the community it serves by providing an $850,000 donation to the United Way Relief Fund, to be used for basic needs such as safety, shelter, food and mental health.

Amegy Bank’s Kelley Simmons (left) led the delivery efforts, while Brent Reed led the warehouse operation and support from Dallas/San Antonio.
Amegy Bank’s Dallas team loads the truck of supplies.
Amegy Bank’s supply warehouse is loaded to the brim.

Devastation in Corpus Christi-Rockport

After the Wimberley floods of 2015, employees of First Community Bank, Corpus Christi rushed out to cook food for the first responders. So, it wasn’t surprising that they would do the same in their own backyard. First Community Bank staff volunteers brought their barbecue pit trailer to Rockport, a coastal community directly in Hurricane Harvey’s path, and cooked fajitas and sausage wraps throughout the day.

Three days later, the bank’s staff and barbecue pit trailer returned to Rockport. They served more than 4,500 plates over the two days to first responders and members of the community — well over 1,000 pounds of fajitas and sausage wraps. The bank also distributed dog food for pets left behind, water and other items.

“There were people who had not had a hot meal in three days,” said Wes Hoskins, president and CEO of First Community Bank. “This was just after landfall and the beginning of clean up. Rockport looked like a war zone.”

“First Community Bank takes great pride in being a community bank,” Hoskins added. “It really was not a question of what will we do to help, but how fast can we get there. It’s just part of our DNA and culture. All bank employees and spouses gave of their own time to serve the meals. We even had customers ask if they could help.”

First Community Bank employees serve first responders and citizens in Rockport.
First Community Bank’s barbecue pit cooked well over 1,000 pounds of fajitas and sausage wraps.

First Community Bank was not the only bank feeding first responders in Rockport. Albert Chapa, market president for PlainsCapital Bank in McAllen, couldn’t shake the images and news reports of the hurricane’s devastation along the coastline. He spoke with Brad Williams, PlainsCapital Bank McAllen branch president, and within 15 minutes they decided to pull together a small group of volunteers and take the bank cooker up the coast to provide free meals to Harvey victims.

Employees of PlainsCapital Bank in McAllen got up bright and early on Aug. 31 to cook 600 meals for Hurricane Harvey victims and first responders. They purchased food, water and supplies and went to work prepping meals of hamburgers, chips and cookies.

American Bank, with branches in Corpus Christi, Victoria, Goliad, Rockport, Austin and Port Aransas, initiated a number of activities to ease the burden on clients. To support its communities, all bank locations accepted donations of non-perishable food, diapers, personal care items and pet food to benefit the local food banks, the Food Bank of Corpus Christi and the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent.

American Bank provided hot meals for employees and their families, customers and the community in Port Aransas and Rockport.

All three Austin locations teamed up with Tide Dry Cleaners, a customer that started a program called “Loads of Hope” to help individuals impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The Austin locations collected new and gently used clothing, and Tide Dry Cleaners cleaned and sorted the clothes and delivered them to people in need.

The bank also provided meals for customers and employees and their families in both Rockport and Port Aransas while those communities were without power and water.

To help employees most severely affected by the hurricane, the bank established an employee relief fund, which was funded through employee donations and matched dollar-for-dollar by the bank.

Lessons from Ike

Galveston area banks learned valuable lessons from Hurricane Ike in 2008. Following that hurricane, three banks — HomeTown Bank, Moody National Bank and Texas First Bank — created a model lending program that provided low interest, short-term gap financing to businesses negatively impacted by the storm. The program evolved into a national model for business recovery.

The devastation from Hurricane Harvey prompted these Galveston banks to reinstate the successful program. “It is an immediately useful recovery tool and is designed to sustain businesses throughout this difficult time,” said Vic Pierson, president and CEO of Moody National Bank. This program provides for a short-term (180 days) low-interest (4 percent fixed rate) single-pay note. It is intended to provide gap financing for businesses awaiting insurance, SBA or other funding in their long-term recovery.

Participating banks envision extending these loans throughout their customer base with the hope of other banks joining in to expand the program throughout the affected region.

Galveston area bankers meet on the Hurricane Harvey Business Recovery Loans program.

Banking by candlelight

After Hurricane Harvey unleashed its wrath on the Houston area, it wandered up the Gulf Coast as a tropical storm, pounding the Beaumont-Orange-Port Arthur area and leaving thousands of people stranded in flooded homes and on underwater roads. Television news stations focused footage on heroic rescues, many of which were made by employees of CommunityBank of Texas, said Robert Franklin, chairman of the board & CEO.

Several CommunityBank of Texas employees from a Port Arthur branch used boats and big trucks to rescue stranded citizens.

Bank employees also went above and beyond to help their customers. For example, at the bank’s Jasper branch, which had no electricity, two bank employees opened the bank using candles. “They sat in a hot dark bank and cashed checks for these people because they said their elderly customers needed their social security checks cashed,” Franklin said.

The bank also took care of its own banking family. Out of 500 CommunityBank of Texas employees, approximately 85 suffered flooding damage. Bank employees and directors raised $150,000, and the bank donated $100,000. Although Franklin said the bank was blessed that no employees were injured, he said property damage ranged from total losses on their homes to damaged cars.

“There is something that needs to be pointed out about community banks,” Franklin added. “Everybody opened up pretty quickly. Customers appreciated that.”

A CommunityBank of Texas branch without electricity lights up the lobby with candlelight.

At Bridge City, in southern Orange County, Tropical Storm Harvey dumped more than 20 inches of rain when it made its second landfall. The city, with a population of more than 8,100, had been underwater when Hurricane Ike struck in 2008. “But this was a whole different thing,” said Scott Hale, chairman of the board, president and CEO of Bridge City State Bank. “This was so widespread and everybody was impacted. It was unreal.”

Ten out of the bank’s 30 employees had water in their homes. “It doesn’t matter if it’s six inches or six feet,” Hale added. “It’s still damage.” One employee, a young lady, bought her house the Thursday before Harvey hit. “The house flooded over the weekend, and the young couple had never lived in it,” Hale said. They didn’t have flood insurance.

Those employees who did not experience damage set out to clean houses for affected coworkers and helped them move to temporary housing. “You are all one big family in these instances,” Hale added.

The bank also took care of its community by offering 0 percent financing to replace flooded cars and handling home rebuilds like construction loans, something the bank developed with help from the Texas Banking Department following Ike. These loans are easier to make and come with preferred rates. Approxi­mately 800 houses in Bridge City cannot be occupied.

Hale pointed out that good deeds get rewarded. Following Hurricane Ike, a bank from Waveland, Miss., that had received assistance during Hurricane Katrina, sent a truckload of supplies to Bridge City to “pay it forward.” When Ashland City, Tenn., experienced flooding in 2010, Bridge City Bank sent care packages to Community Bank and Trust.

So, when Community Bank and Trust learned that 10 employees at Bridge City State Bank had experienced flooding, the bank sent them $1,000 apiece. “It blew us away,” Hale said. “It shows what community bankers can do for each other.” The bank’s employees collected an additional $1,400 funds.

Prosperity Bank, which operates 94 banking centers in the Houston and South Texas areas, including Beaumont, Corpus Christi and Victoria, did what they could to help out. Prosperity Bank’s Liberty Hill Banking Center associates raised money by using their cooking skills to prepare and sell baked goods, while the Schulenburg Banking Center collected cleaning supplies to donate to La Grange. In addition, the bank established a relief fund for affected employees.

In Lubbock, far from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, Wellington State Bank held a fundraiser for the Texas Bankers Foundation’s Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund. The total amount raised across all branches was $10,819, and the bank will match that amount up to $10,000, bringing the total amount of the donation to $20,819.

And at Eagle Bank in Round Rock, a branch of Round Top State Bank, employees put together personal hygiene kits for hurricane victims.

These stories are just a few examples of the many ways bankers stepped up to help their customers, communities and employees during the devastation left by Hurricane Harvey. If you ask them, it’s just business as usual. Banks are the cornerstones of their communities after all.

Search and rescue efforts dominated the news. Photo by FEMA News Photo

Credits:

Photos courtesy of related banks in 'Texas Strong' feature article.

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