Welcome to Dream First Bank!

Chris Floyd and Matt Bennett discuss why we decided to change the name of the bank from FNB Syracuse to Dream First Bank (NO, we didn't sell!)  

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Speaker 1 0:06

Hey, this is Chris Floyd, and welcome to season four of our DreamMaker podcast. And this is coming , starting the actual week that we're, instead of being the first National Bank of Syracuse, we are becoming Dream First Bank as of this week. So , uh, we thought we'd , uh, talk a little bit about that. So I have Matt Bennett , he's our Garden City Branch president, and our senior lender to the bank. And , uh, been a key part of our team for a long time, feels like. But , uh, uh, so we've kind of been working on this project for quite a while, so we thought we'd just kind of talk a little bit about it, kinda give you guys some information of why we decided to do this, what it means for us, and what it means for you guys as , as customers and our communities and things like that, and kind of just go from there. So, well, Matt , um, you know, you've kinda been part of this project from when we first dreamed up, like, we need to change the name of the bank or, you know, so from your aspect, I guess, why was it a good idea to, to even go down this road, I guess, versus, you know, I mean, easy thing would've been stay like we were, I guess, if that makes sense .

Speaker 2 1:14

Right . Well, Chris, that's exactly right. Uh , from my perspective, yeah, the easy thing would've been to stay First National Bank of Syracuse. You know, we've been that since 1906, you know, so that definitely would've been the easy thing is we've been successful and grown our bank, you know, expanded into different markets , um, you know, garden City, Ulysses , um, and that's gone fine. But , um, man, if you , you don't have to look too far around and there's first national banks, you know, we're surrounded by 'em , and you travel in other states, there's first national banks, you know, just in other counties and other communities around us. So , um, it's honestly confusing, I think for customers or even non-customers, it's like, okay, are you associated with that First National Bank? And, you know, we got used to having the conversation of no, we're , that's a different First National Bank, and you talk about why they're the same name, but it's a totally separate bank that you're not , um, related to. So, so you're right, the easy thing would've been just to stay First National Bank, but, you know, we've got goals and aspirations to continue to grow the bank. And as you grow into other communities that aren't familiar with us or don't know our history, it's, it's even harder to differentiate ourselves when you have a name that's so similar to lots of other banks.

Speaker 1 2:38

Yeah, and I , I was talking to one of the guys the other day, and it says kind of interesting , um, like especially around the holiday times, you know, you , you know, family members from other communities in town and they just, you know , it is kinda interesting. I mean , people kinda assume that we're all first national banks are related, and , um, it's just kind of nuts that way. But, you know, it's, you know, it's a little different too. I , we all always think that it's a little different. Like you and I live in the banking world every day , and, you know, I can go rattle off, you know, first , you know, for where most of the ones that are close to us. But, you know, not everybody knows that. And so that's, you know, that's okay too. And so that's part of, I think where it makes it important to , uh, differentiate , differentiate ourselves , uh, very well that way. So , um, so a lot of people would think Dream First Bank, that's kind of interesting. Different name I guess, or, you know, probably, you know , we think more modern, I would say. Um, what does that kind of , or when you think about that as you, we come up with that name, how's that kinda , or what does it , I guess, inspire you when you think about the name and how it affects us and how we handle our customers and things like that?

Speaker 2 3:45

Right. Well, you know , um, it wasn't easy to come up with a new name. You know, I don't know if any of our listeners have ever changed the name of their company or , um, you know, anything in their lives. It's not, it , you would think it'd be easy. Well, you got a blank canvas, right? And you can kind of pick any name you want, or at least you can nail it down before you have to go get it trademarked and make sure nobody else already owns the rights to that name. But , um, it , it was a little more difficult than I thought. Like I said, you got a blank slate, pick whatever you want. Well , you start out with kind of these, you know, general themes you think that, you know, kind of define us as a bank or how we run our bank, or how we deliver service to our customers. So you kinda have those different themes and then you try to apply those themes to an actual name. And, you know , we went through a lot of different , um, lists and narrowing it down, and then you kind of like this name and it branches you off to a different , um, kind of down a different path. But it seems like we always kept coming back to the dream aspect. You know, it's been in our tagline for 20 years, you know, making Dreams come True. And I really feel like we do that for our customers. You know, we've, we've been known as the bank that finds a way to make a deal happen rather than find a way to not do it. So, you know, that we kept having that dream theme in a , in a lot of things. And then, you know, the first part is kind of homage to First National Bank. So I really like how it's, you know, it's kind of looking towards the future and this is what we're all about. We like to make dreams come true for, you know, not just our customers, but our employees. You know, we've had a lot of employees that their dream has been to work for a bank and we're making that dream happen for them. And , um, and our communities, as you mentioned, you know, we've been part of our communities for a long time. And , um, so yeah, to answer your question, that dream first , I really think it says what we're about, you know, first National Bank was a cool , very cool name and a, you know, a very conventional banking name. Dream First is definitely not probably conventional, but we want it to be something we can own. And, you know, that that's my bank, you know, dream First Bank, and you don't have to explain that you're not related to another dream first in another state or another county. 'cause there are no other dream first , right?

Speaker 1 6:06

Yeah, that's right. At least that's what the patent trademark office tells me. So <laugh> Yeah . Uh , hopefully that

Speaker 2 6:12

Holds up.

Speaker 1 6:13

Yeah, hopefully. So, so one of the things I thought was interesting, you know, too , Matt , we went and , uh, you know , did all the videos. You know , we've been working on some projects, you know, for our extraordinary Bank of the Year award. We won 2019, and, and this year we got inducted Extraordinary Bank Hall of Fame. And , um, you know, talking about that, how , how to find a way to make a loan. And I was thinking the other day we were talking , um, some other , uh, as we've been talking to some of our customers about this change coming about, you know, I can remember in Syracuse, I was working in the summer, so this has been mid, early nineties of when , uh, the first dairy guys that we were trying to recruit to come to southwest Kansas came into the bank. And I remember when Terrell went and recruited those dairies, the , you know, I mean, that was kinda a leap to come out where there were no dairies, but I can remember running cash flows for him and whatnot and, you know, so that innovative thing you're talking about has really been part of this for a long, long time. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . And I think sometimes you just lose track of how many things that we've done that to help the community to help get businesses started, help businesses grow that, you know , uh, you just lose , you know, you kind of go the next deal and helping the next customer and, and then, you know, until you sit in there and just kinda , oh yeah, we did this, something like this, and like, what ? And just then it gets kind of amazed , like, wow, this , there's a lot of 'em . And so it really makes a huge difference, I think, once you start piling all those together and whatnot. But, yep .

Speaker 2 7:46

Well , I agree and I think that's really cool, you know, 'cause some other banks would probably do it that way, but some wouldn't, you know, they like to stay in their lane and well , we're comfortable making these type of loans and we're probably pretty good at it, and we're gonna keep doing that if something, an opportunity comes up that's a little different. Yeah , we'll let somebody else do that. You know, that you talk about doing that in the nineties and now we're in 2022. But I think that's ingrained in our culture and in all of our employees that, and I think they live it every day . It's like, you know what? Let's not just say no or stay comfortable, you know, we talk about there's a difference being comfortable and then , um, willing to take risks if the situation is right. So, you know, especially as we've hired younger employees that are learning our culture and how we run our bank, it's, you know, they don't know any different. They say, that's just the way we do it. You know, I think that's cool. And they're willing to have the conversation with the customer that, you know what, that's an interesting idea. Let's see if we can figure out a way to make this happen happened .

Speaker 1 8:46

Yeah. And I think that's one thing we have to watch for a little bit is 'cause it's so ingrained that you don't realize not everybody's like that too, I think is kind of unique that Yep . That it's, yeah. And I think that's one thing that does set us apart . We're willing to look at that and, and do those, you know , at least look and learn, right? It's, you know, not every, you can't do everything that comes to you, but you can find a way to make it or fleece, you know, like , uh, we always figure it out if , you know, like, how can , or what else do can , or how could we do it? And , you know, to make a deal work. So that's, yeah , a big part of it.

Speaker 2 9:21

I'd say also, Chris, you've been, I you've pushed us on the technology side, you know, I don't know that we're always on the bleeding edge, but we're willing to try things and explore , um, whether it's technology or different ideas that a lot of banks may not do it initially. They kind of wait for everybody else to figure it out and then kind of jump in when all the wrinkles are worked out. But you might speak to some of the things you've done or what you think about on the technology side or some of the other things you , um, investigate that maybe other banks wouldn't be willing to try.

Speaker 1 9:56

Oh, man. It's amazing when you start looking at what's out there, I guess. And I guess that probably, you know, I guess you talk about the culture, we're always looking for things, you know, and, you know, good example, you know, our online account opening, we started that, you know, there's, I mean, there's banks that we're not the only one that you can open <laugh> your account online with, but mm-hmm , <affirmative> , um, there's not as many as cool and fast as what ours is. And it's amazing when you look at that technology behind it, what it can figure out and what it can do , um, as far as helping prevent, you know, protect from fraud, but get it done so fast and make that customer experience and, you know, and just all those little different products and, you know, to make that , uh, experience different 'cause you know, what are , you know, customers expecting , uh, kind of be more , uh, are expecting things different, right? And you run into, you know, maybe it's how Amazon does something or, you know, I can't think of any other , uh, Google or something like that. Then it comes to expectation. How can you do things? And, you know, even like having our ITMs, you know, our little sand machines out there, it's amazing that, you know, you can think of , uh, we can have , uh, essentially 24 7 access to your accounts, all your accounts and , uh, uh, making deposits and running physical checks, and it's kinda amazing what, what you can do technology wise anymore, but

Speaker 2 11:16

Yep . Yep . I agree. I agree. And sometimes change is hard, you know, people generally don't like change, they get in their routines, but , um, I feel like we bring those ideas to the customers, Hey, why don't you try this? You know? And lots of times they'll try it and like, oh, this is cool. I , I'm glad you guys did this, and you'll have some , it's like, you know , that's not exactly for me. I'll continue to do it the other way, but we want to give 'em those options.

Speaker 1 11:42

Yep . You know, one of the things that, you know, going through those videos that we noticed too, or some common themes, you know, and the neat part was our customers telling us, right? So I, I wasn't making this up <laugh> for the most part. Um , but you know how many , uh, that I'll say that basically I heard , uh, one guy says, like an entrepreneurial bone, you either have it or you don't. But , uh, how many of our customers have that entrepreneurial bone, I guess, that want to do something and do something different? And , uh, that's one thing that was kind of really surprising. I don't know if that's what you noticed or what was, or what your thoughts were about that. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.

Speaker 2 12:22

Yeah. It was interesting when Federica was doing those videos and you got to sit in and, and , um, here what customers had to say it , you're right, it's , um, there was a lot of similarities in that people were willing to try things that , um, aren't 100% guaranteed to work. Um, but they're willing to try 'em . Um, and it seems like that aligns well with our bank, you know, kinda like we just talked about. When you make a loan, there's no guarantee it's always gonna work out like it should. Um , but hearing those themes from those customers, they had dreams that whether it's to just improve their business, they already have, you know, maybe doing something different or, you know, I've been successful running this particular business, but now I'm gonna go use what I learned over here in a totally separate one. Um, so yeah, it was very cool to hear those themes , um, from those various peoples. And they weren't all just in one community, you know, that was throughout all of our branch network and not just in the communities where we have branches, you know, we tend to have a lot of customers in other places and places . So I guess I'd say, Chris, it wasn't concentrated just in one area. It was kind of throughout all of those customers that Fedie visited with that . Um , so that was cool to hear that from them .

Speaker 1 13:40

Yeah . And I , I think one thing too, going those lines that , you know, our seminar when Mark Levy was out, and, you know, one neat thing we did is, you know, he visited , we had 10 different customers, had one, had an hour with him , one-on-one to talk about how to talk about their business and them help, help their marketing. And, and , uh, you know, he, a lot of times he, or you know, he, he's tells a lot of great stories, but one of 'em is like, you know, just the way entrepreneurs think is a little different. And a lot of times, and , and then I saw that kind of parallel with us too, that like sometimes, like I don't have a past history. This says a lot . Well, I say this better, you know, he said, A lot of times when you're making a decision, you know , use your past history as a guide, as a , you know, measuring stick that like, okay, how will this work? What will this work? You know, what can I expect? And there's a lot of things that we do and our customers do that. Like, there's no history to judge with. And so if you can't have something to filter that through, then it's like, well, I can't, I'm not gonna do it. Or definitely not be first just because I, I can't predict. And so I , I thought it was really neat when he was talking about that like, you know, basically an entrepreneur side thinks, Hmm , well if I could try this, what can I afford to lose and wanna do? And I'll just take a step and try. And then they reassess and they take another step. And , and , uh, I think that, you know, kind of talking about our technology and stuff that kind of fits us I think a little bit and , and all sudden it's like, well, this is why we jive so much with our good customers we have already Mm-Hmm.

Speaker 3 15:07

<affirmative>,

Speaker 1 15:11

You know , part of me , oh, go . Sorry. Sorry, I cut you off there.

Speaker 2 15:13

Go ahead Chris . Nope .

Speaker 1 15:16

Um, you know , one thing I always , a lot of times you get around people is talking about banking in general. And to me, one of the best parts of why our American economy is so dynamic is because we have a lot of community banks in local communities , um, that are , uh, have a vested interest in making that community succeed. And, you know, there's several of us, right? So that I think that makes a di you know, kind of brings that competition and things in . So you're always having to strive to do better, to better serve our customers and do stuff like that. But , um, you know, think about communities , um, you know, we talk a lot about, you know, even marking our seminar was talking about, it's not just demographics, which would be where you're located and what you're at, but you know, he called 'em psychographics, you know, how people think. And I thought, you know, when you kind of frame it that way, you know, our communities , uh, we have a community that's a subset within our community, I guess, would that be right? Where Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , you know, the way people think or who wanna achieve things.

Speaker 2 16:25

Yeah, I agree with that. Um, wholeheartedly. And you know, we're in the banking world, so we watch the numbers, but you know, the number of banks in the country, Chris is shrinking , um, kind of dramatically, you know? And so you probably know better than me, but there's 4,000 some banks still in the country.

Speaker 1 16:45

Yeah. A little over 4,000. Yep .

Speaker 2 16:47

Yeah . And then if you boil it down to Kansas, you know, there's what, 220 or something like that? Yep . You probably don't have to go too far back. And it was, you know, 300 banks in Kansas. So, and I bet if you visited a community where the banks, there's no community banks left in that community , um, they struggle, you know, and that's unfortunate. So, you know, that's one of the reasons why we've talked about it and with our ownership is like, you know, that's not cool. We can't let that happen to our communities. Uh, we can't control everything, but we can control what we're doing and the investment we're making in our communities. And that's just not okay for banks to go away and exit. And so we're, that's another reason why we wanted to change the name to Dream first . You know, it's like, you know what, we're not only changing for now, but for the next 50 or a hundred years, you know, we, that's what we believe is part of our mission, is just to continue to run the banks and provide that service to the customer so our communities can thrive. And like you talked about those subsets, those are the people that think like that are the ones that are gonna think of the next business that, you know, you mentioned the dairies that are a huge lifeline out in the western part of our footprint or here in Garden City. You know, garden City's always had that, you said the entrepreneurial bone. It's just been part of the backbone of Garden City for a long time. And you can see that in the various businesses that have sprouted up and continue to , um, succeed. And so we definitely wanna be a part of that going forward.

Speaker 1 18:22

Yeah. And you know, you think about yeah, being a part of that community, 'cause like, you know, if if the banks won't lend and the bank won't help, then it really slows that growth. And so, you know, we've been forced to be part of communities where that's, that's not really an issue. And, and you know, we kinda make sure we do our part, I guess to, to make those dreams come true. And, and once we keep focused on that, and that's why I think the name made so much sense, right? That's just, you know, if you think of , um, always talking to somebody , I can't remember, I always forget who I talk to anymore <laugh>, because I dunno what , why. But you know, you think about , um, part of our job too, I feel is like, you know, our customers and our employees and our communities can have dreams, but a lot of times you can dream and then you wake up and then here's reality. But, you know, that's what our job is to take that bridge from getting that dream and making it reality. And , and that's where I kinda like that dream first part. You like, we're on dream first and then it , we make it happen and, and figure out a way to do it. And , uh, so I think that's what kind of sets us apart and why that name means so much to us. And it's kinda , you know, I think you go from the, the community we're where we are to the community of people of what we're about and you know, who that'll resonate with. And you know, that's, you know, we just have a , I don't know , it's just a , that's one of the funnest thing about being a banker man, I think is like mm-hmm . It's just a total blast to come to work and, and then see that you're a part of helping somebody get to where they want to be. And you know, it's , um, uh, actually it was when I was at the state fair this last weekend that ran into one old classmates , um, you know, her daughter was showing, and, and they always talking , you know, as well as deals like, you know, they're far enough way , you just don't ever see 'em very often. And she goes like, was it just a job? It's like, no, I got the best job in the world. 'cause I can , you know, we can help people achieve their, what they want to do, achieve their dreams and, and that's how it fits. And so I think that's why , um, you know, and , and to me, you know , part of that name is like, it's, you know, like you're planting the flag and this is what the bank is about. There's no guessing if you're , uh, in our community or a customer or prospect, you know, you know what we're about.

Speaker 2 20:33

Yep . I totally agree. And , you know , um, the good part about talking to our customers about the name change is, you know, for whatever reason, when people see a sign change on a bank, like, oh, they sold, you know, who'd they sell to? So, you know, we had, I'm sure you had some of those questions in the , in your conversations with customers. And , um, so the cool part about it is, you know, no, heck no. We didn't sell, we're not planning to, we're kind of doubling down on our mission actually, that , you know, we're committed to making those dream come dreams come true. And yeah, we got a cool new name and the sign's different, but no, it's still the same , um, you know, the same employees, because that's another thing people think about, well, is, is Chris still gonna be there now that they got a new name change? Or is, you know, pick an employee that they, the customers work with? Well, of course they're still gonna be here, you know, and we continue to add employees where some banks are going the opposite way. We continue to add to our, our employees and are always looking to add the right people. So, so it's cool when you're having those conversations that yeah, the sign's changing, but you know, it's still the same people you've known and trusted when it was First National Bank and it'll be the same people when it streamed first.

Speaker 1 21:47

Oh yeah. That's important about , I forgot about that. 'cause that is like, you know, seems like most times the banks change and they , or they sell, then it's, you know, the, the level of service just goes downhill and 'cause they're not focused on being out here. And so I think yeah, that's a good part to breed up . 'cause it's, yeah, it's really, for us it's a doubling down and, and that's , I like that. So that's a makes , uh, we're defining who we are, right? Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . So, good deal. Well, I think Matt, I think that most covers most of it won't keep people too long. Anything else you wanna throw in here at the end as we get going?

Speaker 2 22:26

No, sir. I don't think so. You know, we're really looking forward to it. It's been a interesting, you know, however long we've been working on the new name , so it's really nice to see it here and , um, excited to , um, be Dream First Bank. You know, like I said, it's been a interesting journey to get here and I'm really excited about the future, Chris. I , I'm super excited about it.

Speaker 1 22:49

Oh yeah, me too. It's like you say, it's , it is finally here in the , it's amazing how, what you get drug down , how long can take to get something done <laugh> like this. But yeah , it , it's gonna be really exciting. And, and , uh, and then too , all the, all the fun new stuff. We get a get a give out too . So, you know , uh, we'll be looking for , uh, hopefully we, you know, our plan is to catch our old logo everywhere and get replaced with a new one, but, you know, realistically, there's gonna be ones we forget and didn't find. And so , uh, we'll be off and getting those fixed. But, well Matt , uh, thanks for taking the time and , uh, we'll be off and running. And like I say, if you have questions, make sure to call the bank and , uh, uh, talk to one of our Dream First Bank , uh, uh, members. And , uh, we'll be off the run to help you make your dreams come true. So you guys have a great week.