Community National Bank & Trust celebrated a milestone Friday, marking 25 years of serving customers in Iola.
Employees, customers and community members joined in recognizing the anniversary and reflecting on the bank’s growth over the past quarter century.
For Tom Strickler, loan officer and former president of the Iola branch, the anniversary carries special significance. He believes he is the only current employee who has been with the Iola location since its opening.
Asked about the past 25 years, Strickler said, “It goes fast. It really does.”
Over the years, he has witnessed significant changes in the banking industry. Among them, he pointed to the increasing number of regulations banks must navigate. “That’s probably the biggest thing,” he said.
At the same time, he said the growth of the Iola branch has been remarkable. “We have the largest loan volume of any of the Community National Bank locations,” Strickler said. “We started out with zero loans.”
He credits much of that success to the bank’s employees and their commitment. “We really are all about community banking,” Strickler noted.
That philosophy, he said, has helped Community National Bank maintain strong customer relationships while continuing to offer modern banking services.
“We’re small enough that we know our customers, we have strong relationships, but at the same time we’re big enough that we can have most of the technology and all the products that you can get most any place, even with the bigger banks,” Strickler said.
WHILE THE Iola branch celebrates 25 years, Community National Bank as a whole continues to expand across Kansas and Missouri.
Mike Waldman, president of the Iola banking center, has been with Community National Bank for 20 years and has witnessed much of that growth firsthand.
“It’s been great,” Waldman said of his experience with the bank.
He recalled when Community National Bank’s total assets were approximately $465 million. Today, the institution is approaching $2.5 billion in assets.
“The bank overall has just grown tremendously over the years,” Waldman said.
THE COMPANY now operates 43 locations across Kansas and Missouri, including branches in Humboldt, Nevada, Lamar, Pittsburg, and other communities. The bank recently purchased a building in Salina as it continues to expand.
The organization’s first location was established in Chanute, which remains the company headquarters. Humboldt became the second branch, while the Iola location carries the designation of Banking Center No. 13.
