Special Commemorative Grand Opening

GRAND
OPENING
June 25
8:30-Noon
WHERE?
JUST OFF 50 BY THE UDF
LOT’S OF FUN GIVE-AWAYS
INCLUDING THE FAMOUS
FRIENDSHIP BUCKS
WE BELIEVE IN BOOSTING THE LOCAL ECONOMY, SO WE
WILL BE GIVING AWAY $1,500 IN “FRIENDSHIP BUCKS”
THAT YOU CAN USE AT THESE LOCAL
HOMETOWN RETAILERS
Main Street Diner » DeVille Pharmacy
RiverWatch » Trinity Dry Cleaners
Cummins Café Delight » Home Décor & More
Gambles Furniture & Appliance » Signarama
Serendipity Specialty Foods » Z Nailz
Sears-Aurora » DJ's Bakery » Aurora Lumber Co
Steak 'N Shake » Classic Car Wash
McCabes Greenhouse » The White Barn Market
Hidden Treasures Gift Shop
All About Home's Aurora Floral
Cyclops Bikes » Fusion Salon » Quilters Garden
Trading Post » Campbell Custom Sewing
Millie & Co. Mercantile » Furfect Kutz
Subway (Aurora, Bright, Milan, St Leon)
Beebs & Bubs Americafe » Whiskey City Tattoo
The Framery » Personally Yours Gift Shop
Register Publications
Special Appearance by...
BOGUS HOLLOW
10am-Noon
Join us as we fire up the grill
sharing food, fun, and frolic
in celebration of a great
summer day and your
new community bank!
RELY ON FRIENDSHIP
SAY HELLO
TO YOUR
STAFF!
Jody McGuire, Kim Meyers, Kara Cleeter, Shelby Elliott, Amy Grubbs and John Rumsey
Meet Jody McGuire, Branch Manger.
Jody has 10 years of banking experience. “I love that we aren’t
driven by sales but much more so by customer service. We
aren’t being pushed to reach sales goals or promote products
but to get to know our customers and best serve them.”
Meet Kim Meyers, Head Teller.
Kim has two years banking experience. “The friendly and
compassionate atmosphere I received when I was a customer
is what brought me here as an employee. The warm welcome
you receive the minute you walk in the door is what stands
out about Friendship.”
Meet Shelby Elliott, Teller.
Shelby has one year of banking experience. “I love the convenience of this branch for customers coming home from work.
They can come do their banking, grab dinner, and fuel up. It’s
great!”
Meet Kara Cleeter, Teller.
Kara has three months of banking experience. “I enjoy all of
our customers. They are all very friendly and I love getting to
know them.”
Meet Amy Grubbs, Retail Banking Officer.
Amy has 25 years of banking experience. “I am excited to help
our customers with their loan and deposit account needs. I
also enjoy helping customers establish credit, and offering
the steps they can take to achieve their goals.”
Meet John Rumsey, Loan Officer.
John has 41 years of banking experience. “Friendship offers
common sense banking. I enjoy helping customers with their
loan needs. My job is very rewarding especially when I am
able to help a customer purchase a home they thought
may never happen.”
Meet Matt Fox, Insurance Agent.
Matt has 20 years of insurance experience. “In 2010 I came on
board with Friendship Insurance through the acquisition of
the Fox Agency. It was refreshing to come from a small
company to one with over 100 employees and still find
that Friendship values always treating the customer right.”
Meet Greg Hughes, Insurance Agent.
Greg has 10 years of banking and insurance experience. “It
will be nice combining banking and insurance under one
roof here in Lawrenceburg. Many customers have been
asking for a branch down this way for some time. The convenience of being in the same location as the bank for our
customers will be a bonus for everyone.”
Meet Missy Weatherford, Insurance Customer Service Rep.
Missy has 24 years of insurance experience. “Friendship is an
outstanding company to work for. They have a true sense of
pride and care about their clients as well as their employees. I
enjoy helping clients in educating them about our insurance
products and guiding them through the process of a claim.”
Missy Weatherford, Greg Hughes, Bobbi Purvis and Matt Fox
RELY ON FRIENDSHIP
Unique and Efficient Building Design
to House a Warm Welcome
The Friendship State Bank
and Friendship Insurance
buildings tend to be
unique and the Lawrenceburg office is no exception.
Stong lines, bold colors
and generous, transparent
windows set their newest
location apart.
“We wanted a fresh, new
look with the same warm
feeling you always get at
The Friendship State Bank,”
explained Nan Lemon,
who
supervised
the
design on the project.
“We are a bank for all
people and generations.
We still hold the same
values we did when we
opened in 1912, while
offering the modern products big banks do. We
wanted this to be a fun
facility that everyone
would enjoy visiting in a
digital banking age.”
Lemon’s favorite feature
includes the open half
circle design upon entry.
This swooping area greets
the customer and encom-
passes the teller line, insurance
customer service representatives’ desks and the customer
lobby, which features a stunning
fireplace and open, airy sitting
area.
Friendship is as proud of their
latest office’s hidden features as
they are its visible ones.
“We went for a very green and
efficient building,” noted Paul
Stenger, Project and Facilities
Manager for the bank. “The use
of space and our choices for the
fixtures are modern, practical
and efficient.”
The facility is equipped with LED
lighting, heated sidewalks and a
Variable Refrigerant Flow Heating and Cooling System. This
allows for individual temperature
control in each office and area in
the building, with results in not
only comfort, but a high level of
efficiency. They also pre-planned
for solar panels to add to the
hillside to keep options open for
further efficiency in the future.
to the safety and comfort for our
customers and employees while
allowing us to be good stewards
of our resources.”
Lemon and Stenger are proud of
the completed project, but both
agree the building is not what
will grab your attention first.
“It’s really the insurance and
banking staff, not the building.
They are so friendly and seem
like they have always known you.
That is what I like about the
people at Friendship,” Lemon
shared.
“These products are no longer “I think that is what stands us
difficult to find or purchase,” apart at all our locations,”
Stenger shared. “They contribute Stenger added.
A Long History of Innovation and Growth
The Friendship State Bank was founded in
1912 by a group of local businessmen and
farmers. The man they chose to manage their
new venture was Wilkie S. Lemon, a local
farmer whose main background was in horse
and cattle trading. Lemon was willing to
serve in this capacity, but requested a period
of training at the Osgood Bank before
assuming his duties.
In April of that year, Wilkie Lemon went to
the Osgood State Bank. On October 26,1912,
he became the first Cashier and Manager of
the Friendship State Bank. He was armed
with six months of training and a two-page
list of things you need to start a bank (pens,
pencils, ledger sheets, etc.).
The first regularly scheduled meeting of the
Board of Directors took place on November
2, 1912. At this meeting, the first loan application, from the Bear Creek Baptist Church,
was approved. The board also agreed that
the bank would make no loan for an amount
lower than twenty-five cents. They decided
to install a telephone as soon as possible; the
bank's first step into the “high-tech” world.
Wilkie Lemon justified the faith of those
initial investors by his superb management
of the bank from 1912 until 1957. It was due
to his efforts that Friendship State Bank
weathered the Depression of the 1930's,
which was catastrophic for so many small
banks. Surprisingly, one of the casualties of
the era was the Osgood State Bank, which
had trained Mr. Lemon.
Sensible growth management has been
another hallmark of the Friendship State
Bank. The bank started out in a small building on Main Street in Friendship, and was
added onto several times until it reached its
present size. This gradual approach was similarly followed in the bank's expansion to five
other locations: Dillsboro (October, 1989),
Rising Sun (February, 1998) Versailles
(November, 2000), Vevay (January, 2006),
and Batesville (January, 2009). Each time, the
expansion was in response to community
requests for service.
In 2016, the bank opened a long-awaited
new branch office in Lawrenceburg, as well
as an office in Madison, due to popular
demand. The Madison office was in response to
a local community bank in the area being
purchased by a larger super-regional bank.
Friendship believes that people still desire their
banking decisions to be made locally.
This responsiveness to community needs is
reflected in the branch management policy.
Each manager is encouraged to run his or her
branch like their own bank, in order to be a true
part of the community in which they serve.
This personalized approach has been another
key element of Friendship State Bank's success
in each of its locations.
Recognizing the need for a full menu of financial services, the bank acquired an insurance
agency in 2000. Friendship Insurance is now
recognized as a region-leading agency, with 8
agents convenient to all customers in our
market area in our local branches. Most agents
have well over a decade of experience, ready to
make banking and insurance services a
one-stop-shop. On Jan. 1, 2016, Friendship
Insurance acquired a well-respected and
revered independent agency in Seymour,
Indiana. Pollerts’ Insurance specializes in property and casualty, as well as crop insurance.
The Lemon family is in its fourth generation of
management of the Friendship State Bank.
After Wilkie Lemon's death in 1957, his son
James W. Lemon managed the bank until 1992.
James William Lemon has continued his family's
tradition from 1992 until 2016. While retaining
the role of Chairman of the Board and President,
he turned over the CEO duties to his son-in-law,
Christopher Meyer with the start of 2016. Many
members of the Lemon family, including Jim’s
brother Tracy Lemon, have found careers in the
Friendship State Bank since 1912; and the
legacy of strong, sensible, community-based
banking is in good hands for the future.
The bank's management is also proud to note
that more than 116 people rely on Friendship
for solid, good-paying jobs; with 18 new positions created so far in 2016 alone. At Friendship,
job retention is high, upward mobility is real,
and we boast the best group of community
bankers, at every level, that you will come
across. Of course, that is our opinion... come on
in and see for yourself.
From the beginning of the 20th century to the
dawn of the 21st, from 25-cent loans to multimillion-dollar transactions, the Friendship State
Bank has prospered. We look forward to future
challenges, inspired by our past successes. We
will continue to be a community bank, responsive to the needs our customers and shareholders.
Friendship Style: One of a Kind 1929 Ford Model A Brinks Truck
Five years ago The Friendship State Bank
began its hunt for the perfect parade vehicle. Bank President, Jim Lemon, and CEO,
Chris Meyer discovered a 1980s fire engine,
but it wasn’t the right fit. Dillsboro loan
officer and Vice President John Rumsey had
an idea, and introduced them to Conrad
Gerdes.
Gerdes is nationally renowned for his Ford
Model A restorations. You may have noticed
his vintage gas station equipment on Highway 50 near Dillsboro.
“We were hooked as soon as we walked into
to Conrad’s shop because of his excitement
in creating something completely unique
for us,” Meyer shared.
Gerdes did not disappointment. He masterminded the design and restoration of the
1929 Ford Model A Brinks Truck. It is one of
only two of the classic armored vehicles in the country. It made its first appearance in the 2015 Dillsboro
Homecoming Parade and cruised through several
southeastern Indiana communities that year.
The Friendship State Bank and Insurance loves celebrating with their communities and are taking to
the streets again this summer sharing this treasure.
Keep your eyes peeled at parades, festivals and car
shows near you!
HELLO LAWRENCEBURG!
Thank you to all of our loyal customers in
Lawrenceburg and Aurora who have supported us over the years at our offices in
Dillsboro, Rising Sun, and Friendship. This
office is for you! From the moment we broke
ground in August of 2015, we were excited
to open our doors for you and all of our
future customers who are eager to work
with “the bank that Friendship built.”
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We have joined our Friendship Insurance
office with the bank for your convenience
right in the heart of the hub of local commerce to make it easy for you to Rely on
Friendship for all of your financial and
insurance needs. Here are a few pics of
our project as it developed in your
neighborhood.
RELY ON FRIENDSHIP