Check out our very first blog post!

02/18/2020

I have been dreaming of a blog for Bank of the Panhandle for several years now, and our website redesign seemed like the perfect time to launch it. There are a couple of reasons that I am thrilled to have a blog.

First, I believe it’s a great place to offer information that might not otherwise be easy to access. We have some big plans on talking about the home loan process, walking through credit repair, providing economic updates, and highlighting great things going on in our community.  Second, I like the thought of having a database of helpful information for our community to access when they have a question about something financially related.  Third, I just like to write. My backup career plan is to be a struggling writer, so I’m really hoping the banking thing works out.

For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Sally Hawkins.  When I was about two, my dad and a group of investors started a community bank in my hometown of Spearman, Texas.  I grew up in the bank, and for as long as I can remember, I have loved what community banks do for small communities.  I went off to college, dabbled in accounting and law, but it didn’t take long for me to figure out that my true passion was community banking.  

As luck would have it, there was an opening at Bank of the Panhandle in early 2011. Bank of the Panhandle is a single branch location in Guymon, Oklahoma.  My boss and the Chairman of the Board, Steve Baggerly, took a chance on me, and I moved from Amarillo to Guymon.  The rest, as they say, is history.  In 2018, Steve stepped down as President, and he handed the reigns over to me and our management team.  We have an incredible team of people that make showing up to work each day fun and challenging.  

As a community bank, we build community.  I love when a young child brings in their piggy bank and opens their first savings account or when a young couple purchases their first house.  It’s always exciting when we get to work with entrepreneurs and watch them build their business from the ground up, or when a high school graduate comes in to purchase their first vehicle.  I appreciate that we have opportunities to be part of peoples’ lives and to give back to the community in many ways. Sometimes, that means showing up and grilling burgers for a fundraiser or getting our hands dirty cleaning up a local park, and other times it means serving on boards that make our community better.  

Our shareholders are your friends and neighbors.  We have been blessed with some of the best and most supportive investors for the past four decades.  And although at forty-four years, we are pretty young in the world of community banking, we have worked hard to ensure that our ownership structure will allow our Bank to operate in our community for generations to come.  

We will have at least monthly updates to our blog.  Is there specific content you would like to see on our blog?  Shoot me an email, [email protected], and let me know!

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