HUNTSVILLE – Celebrating the 40th anniversary of a subsidiary company, Bank Independent’s annual “Road Show” brought back the 1980s Monday at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. The annual company event brings together all 700 employees from across North Alabama.
Chris King, Bank Independent’s Marketing Director, said as the region has grown so has the Shoals-based community bank.
“We’ve been doing the ‘Road Show’ for 13 or 14 years,” said King. “Three years ago, we decided to close the bank on Presidents Day and bring all of our team members together. We’ve gotten to the size where the Von Braun Center is just about the only venue in North Alabama that can fit a team of our size.”
This year’s “Road Show” was not only the bank’s biggest to date but also served as an ’80s themed celebration.
“We’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of our subsidiary company, Interstate Billing Service,” said King. “So thinking about 40 years ago, what was going on in 1984, we thought it would be a lot of fun to have an ’80s theme.”
In addition to the familiar Bank Independent green, numerous team members were outfitted in their best 80s garb. Meanwhile the B.I. Band, a band made up of Bank Independent employees, rocked classics for the crowd.
King said while the “Road Show” allows team members to focus on growth and development, it also serves as an investment in Bank Independent employees.
“We’re having fun, we’re learning, we are a part of what the bank is trying to accomplish,” he said.
“Bank Independent doesn’t have a culture where the executives are sitting in a room coming up with a strategy and only the executives know what’s going on. Everybody is a part of accomplishing what the bank is trying to do.”
Bank Independent is frequently named to “Best Places to Work” lists, including Newsweek magazine’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces list.
King believes taking care of team members leads to a better customer experience.
“We firmly believe that if we take care of our team members, our team members will take care of our customers. Our goal is always our customers,” said King. “If we’re not doing that, at the end of the day nothing else matters.”
Founded by a group of farmers in 1947 as the Bank of Leighton, Bank Independent now serves 18 communities and has grown to 700 team members. And as the bank continues to expand, so does its workforce.
Blake Hudson, who works in recruitment at Bank Independent, joined the team in 2022.
“This is my second ‘Road Show’,” said Hudson. “This is a great time for all 700 of us to get together, to clarify and continue our Bank Independent mission.”
In the past 10 years, Bank Independent has opened six sales offices in Madison County alone, including the recent opening of a Hampton Cove branch in Huntsville.
Miranda Nichols, sales manager at the Hampton Cove location, said being a part of the Bank Independent team means you are appreciated and engaged.
“It is so wonderful to get to see all of our Bank Independent family together. We’re a small company but we’re very close-knit,” said Nichols. “It’s our family.”
Bank Independent, headquartered in Sheffield, has offices in Athens, Decatur, Huntsville, Madison, Hartselle, East Lawrence, Rogersville, Cortland, Moulton, Lexington, Killen, Florence, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, Russellville, Cherokee, and Red Bay.
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