Providing Community Service & Engagement in the Places We Call Home
September 18, 2023
At Rivers Edge Bank, we make it a mission for our small-town banks to make a big difference in our communities. With local customer support and local staff, we’re able to make a real impact on the people and places we serve because it doesn’t require cutting through layers and layers of corporate red tape. As your neighbors residing in the same communities you call home, we make it our responsibility to be ready when our community members need us.
Whether encouraging community engagement by contributing to major projects or performing community service to satisfy unmet needs, we give with the goal of making the biggest impact. By supporting your local Rivers Edge Bank, we’re able to support you. We couldn’t give back without our friends and neighbors behind us contributing to our success. Through our local ownership and future-proofed business model, we funnel money directly back into our communities and aim to continue our mission for years to come.
Local Ownership Is Our Legacy to Lift Our Communities Up
It’s a story as old as time: a locally owned bank sells its business to a corporate bank because there’s no succession plan for ownership. Rivers Edge Bank writes our own story with perpetual local ownership built into our business. By ingraining local ownership into our future, we ensure bank profits are retained by the community, rather than sent hundreds of miles away to a corporate banker’s pockets.
We hire local employees and encourage them to contribute their time and efforts to causes they’re passionate about. Our local bank leaders have a pulse on everything going on in our communities so we can invest in community engagement efforts that have the largest impact on fellow residents. Along with a secure, friendly customer experience, our main goal is to act as an economic engine driving dollars toward community vitality. We see success as an infinite cycle passing from the bank to the community and back again. When you make local deposits, we’re able to provide local loans that will lift up community members to participate in our economy. A shared commitment to community involvement and growth allows us all to prosper while distributing monetary donations where they matter most to our neighbors.
Nurturing Nonprofits with Funding & Donations
Our community service is centered around people in need, many of whom receive support from local nonprofit organizations. We regularly contribute to nonprofits so they can continue their mission to make our communities a better place.
We’ve committed $100,000 over the next five years to support the Horizon Health Foundation in the Howard community as they continue their Rooted in Rural campaign. Our pledge supports their efforts to retain healthcare workers in our rural areas by supporting the education of students who want to go into the healthcare field and remain in our rural communities. Rivers Edge Bank values the health and well-being of our community members and is proud to contribute to a cause that encourages healthcare for all.
Other recent examples of our community service contributions include:
Leading Local Change Through Community Engagement
Community engagement is critical to keep residents tied to the places we call home so our small towns can continue to grow. At our Howard location, we team up with a local church to serve up a free community meal each year as part of the church’s bi-monthly meal service bringing community members together. In Hawarden, we’ve helped fund a nature center at nearby Oak Grove State Park and put $25,000 toward a new campground for the Sioux County Conservation Board. Our Marion location donated $100,000 to help build a new fire hall for the Marion Fire Department to have an updated homebase allowing the department to store necessary equipment and take quick action when needed. All these efforts add unique amenities to our cities and contribute to a shared sense of community.
Our team members also influence large-scale community improvements by maintaining positions on city councils and local development boards, serving as leaders to empower a legacy of growth for our communities. We even have a team member who serves as the local mayor in Parker! Whether we’re providing financial support as your local bankers or pursuing exciting projects to benefit our communities, we aim to make a difference every day.
Driving Economic Development & Shopping Locally to Support Small Businesses
As a locally owned business ourselves, we regularly promote supporting small businesses and shopping locally to keep funds in our community. For the same reason we’ve prioritized local ownership at our banks, we encourage supporting and shopping at local businesses first before seeking products and services outside of our communities. Across each of our locations, we share local goods and treats on the first Friday of the month to show off the diverse small businesses inhabiting our Main Streets. You can also find art from local artists in our lobbies. At Rivers Edge Bank, we truly put our money where our mouth is—we shop small and spread the word for others to do the same.
Our economic development efforts also include monetary donations to support new ways to bring profits into our communities. We donated our old Canova bank location, valued at $50,000, to the Canova Baseball Association to provide a convenient facility to support local sports teams. The bank and our employees also contributed $13,000 toward golf course enhancements at Par Mar Valley Country Club to elevate the experience for local residents. By investing in small business growth and local hotspots, our communities are better positioned to thrive.
Empowering Our Youth with Scholarships & Support
By providing scholarships to local students and donating funds toward school projects, we hope to build a strong future for our communities. Educating our youth and making them feel valued where they live encourages them to continue calling our communities home once they enter the workforce. Through our ongoing partnership with the South Dakota Bankers Foundation, we award scholarships to local college students and offer internships at their local Rivers Edge Bank to help them start off with strong experience in the financial field.
We also maintain a positive relationship with West Sioux Schools and surrounding districts. Our recent contributions include $22,000 to fund a new greenhouse at the high school and $25,000 for a new scoreboard at the football field in memory of George Rehder, long-time bank partner and Hawarden community & school advocate. Rivers Edge Bank team members also dedicate their time to maintaining positions on the school board or booster club to continue ensuring a thriving learning environment for local students. Giving to our youth today helps them become well-rounded residents invested in our small towns tomorrow.
Encouraging Community Involvement to Facilitate Growth for Farmers
Rivers Edge Bank is a proud sponsor of the Turner County Fair and primary sponsor of the Rivers Edge Bank Ag Education Center. The center draws in local agriculture producers to display their products and animals and educate the community through live demonstrations. In the past, crowds have enjoyed watching eggs hatch, learning how cows are milked and interacting with farm animals, which are highlights of the fair each year.
Ag business is the lifeblood of our small rural towns. By giving residents the opportunity to see farmers in action, we help cement farming as an essential industry that contributes to overall community well-being. We also open doors for youth by showcasing all of the opportunities in the ag field and supporting local 4H and FFA chapters in each of our locations. As an agricultural bank, we always have producers’ best interests in mind.
Contact Your Local Rivers Edge Bank for Support Tailored to You & Your Passions
As your local bank fully committed to our communities, our mantra rings true: if you row someone across the river, you will get there yourself. By supporting each other and caring about causes beyond ourselves, we all contribute to a bigger picture that leads to a healthy, happy community. Whether you’re seeking a business loan or a mortgage to plant roots, or you have a community service cause you’re passionate about for the betterment of our community, we encourage you to contact us online or call your local Rivers Edge Bank to see how we can help today!