“Banks for the New Economy”

Are community banks the David to Wall Street’s Goliath?  After the recent economic turmoil coming out of lower Manhattan, some may have been surprised to see smaller, socially-minded community banks weathering the storm – but not RSF CEO Don Shaffer.  “In 2009, banking will follow a trail blazed by local food and agriculture movements, with business and investors flocking to smaller institutions that emphasize community and sustainability,” says Shaffer in a recent interview for the Sustainable Industries Journal.  According to the article, the potential for growth in the field of community banking is in large part due to the fact that “most community banks did not get involved heavily in mortgage lending, focusing instead on small business loans, and because they generally don’t take on huge loans from outside institutions.”  The silver lining to the current disaster may turn out to be a renaissance of locally-based banks providing people with more stability, transparency, and opportunity to invest in their own communities.  To read the full article, click here.

Back to Newsroom