There may be banks in the immediate Longview area that are bigger or that have more branches or roots that pre-date the founding of First State Bank in 1909.
But Jon B. Ruff said few of them have retained the same name and local ownership while operating continuously for a century.
Les Hassel/News-Journal Photo |
Jon Ruff, CEO of First State Bank Hallsville and Longview.
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"Our bank survived the Great Depression of 1933 and has been continuously operating since 1909 guided by a board of directors and officers who were schooled in conservative banking policies," Ruff said.
That conservative philosophy has served the bank and its depositors well, he said.
In 2009, First State Bank is planning its centennial celebration. Other banks may have roots that were put down in East Texas before 1909, but most of those have merged, been acquired by other firms or changed their names.
"It has always been our principle of banking to manage the bank funds for the benefit of its depositors — first and foremost always doing whatever it takes to earn the trust of our customers," he said.
Much has changed in the past 100 years in both the local economy and the banking environment, Ruff said. When the bank was founded, the western Harrison County area it served in Hallsville was primarily agriculture based.
"The economy was based on cotton with cotton gins being a thriving business," he said. The Hallsville area thrived with schools, churches and a core "of hard working citizens — many of whom still have descendants in Hallsville today," Ruff said.
The original bank was located near the railroad tracks on the main road between Longview and Marshall, a road which would become U.S. 80 in the late 1920s. The main bank has had four locations and has been in the present site at 500 W. Main St. since 1984.
Immediately prior to that, it was located in what today is the Hallsville City Hall. Ruff is the fifth president to serve the bank and the community. He has been with the bank 40 years.
Ruff served as a national bank examiner for about five years after earning his degree in banking and finance from the University of Texas in 1957. He also worked for banks in Longview and Tyler before joining First State Bank on Feb. 1, 1968.
Ruff said his education and early years in the business as an examiner have served him well.
"The basics really haven't changed all that much in the banking business," he said. "Before I got on this side of the business, I learned the right way to do things as a banking examiner."
Maintaining good liquidity and following what Ruff called the "five C's" of banking and the credit business have been his guiding principles, he said. The five Cs used in consideration of making loans are character, capacity, collateral, capital and conditions.
Those basics are even more important in times of economic turmoil like the nation has experienced in recent months, Ruff said. Smaller community-based banks are the backbone of the nation's financial system even though the large mega-sized institutions may dominate the national media limelight, he said.
"Unlike the risky lending practices of many of the banks we are now hearing about, community banks did not engage in the sub-prime lending frenzy that is now bringing huge financial institutions to their knees," Ruff said. "The role of a community bank is to collect deposits in our community and loan those deposits out to deserving borrowers to help stimulate the local economy."
Ruff said he encourages customers to stop by or call when they hear concerns about the state of the banking industry nationally.
"Ask how the bank is doing," he said. "We'll be here and we answer our own phones."
