For The Neffs National Bank, 2013 is an important year.

This year, the bank is celebrating its 90th anniversary with special promotions, such as a seminar on financial planning, a food drive to support a local food pantry and more.

The Future

The community keeps the bank thriving and the bank keeps the community thriving. The Neffs National Bank finds that it's important to be regularly active in the community.

Every year, not just for the 90th anniversary, the bank encourages all board members and employees to be involved in local non-profit organizations.

"We want our customers to know that our directors aren't sitting in an office 300 miles away, but rather that they're right here in the community helping at a Lion's Club breakfast or a church festival," Bank President and CEO Kevin A. Schmidt said. "The Neffs National Bank wants to and plans to serve our customers, shareholders, and the community for another 90 years.

"And we think we can because we've built up a loyalty between the bank and our customers."

Schmidt sees one of the biggest challenges in moving forward as keeping the loyalty strong with younger generations.

"In this digital age, will the new generation value the loyalty as much as their parents or grandparents?" Schmidt asked. "I hope that they will, and in seeking our number of customers, it seems it still does."

Many customers still enjoy coming into the bank to talk to a teller or open an account in person, but the bank also offers Internet and mobile banking to appeal to the younger generations.

Additonally, the bank finds it is important to sustain dependability in a time of buyouts and closures. Customers enjoy working with the same employees at the same bank year after year.

"In part, I think we're successful because we have a low turnover rate," Schmidt said. "We're also one of the few banks in the area that is still an independent community bank.

"Frequently, customers come and tell us that they are tired of other banks' name changes, new account numbers, new policies and procedures, and not knowing with whom they're dealing. We want to continue to be the rock in the community."