AB&T continues success by focusing on relationships

ALBANY — For the last few years, the economy has been anything but typical. From a global pandemic and unprecedented weather events, to generational inflation that upended conventional thinking and sent interest rates soaring, the past four years have been wrought with uncertainty.

Despite those headwinds, AB&T’s long-standing commitment to true relationship banking has continued having a positive impact on clients and community, while also bolstering the balance sheet.

“There will always be something,” AB&T CEO Perry Revell said. “There are so many things in banking that are out of our control. We don’t set the interest rate environment, and we don’t set the regulatory posture. We don’t control any of that.

“What we do control is us, how we operate. Regardless of the noise of the day, we are still seeking deeper connections and finding ways to positively impact our clients.”

Keeping the focus squarely on client needs, no matter how large or small, has allowed AB&T to not only navigate recent economic cycles but continue to thrive.

Like the prior year, 2024 is tracking to be one of the best in the bank’s history, as evidenced by sustained strength across the balance sheet, but most evident in the bank’s deposits, which grew 3.9% in 3Q-24 compared to 3Q-23.

But while the bank’s balance sheet clearly illustrates solid performance, real success for AB&T comes in the ways the bank has continued touching lives in a meaningful way.

Success was seen when Branch Manager Alexis Williams recently drove to the home of a long-time senior client who had been the victim of fraud to help her and her infirmed spouse access their online banking on their new home computer.

Success was also seen when Williams helped new entrepreneur Ryan Layfield open his first business account and continue chasing his dream of being his own boss.

“I love AB&T,” Layfield said. “I’ve had bank accounts before, but I didn’t know the first thing about setting up a business account. Alexis and Brad (McEwen, SVP of Branch Banking and Brand Execution) not only set up the account, they took the time to educate me on things I just didn’t know about, or didn’t even know I needed to know about.

“I’m pretty sure I could get a business account at any bank, but I don’t think I could get that kind of support anywhere else.”

Layfield’s encounters mirror the experiences of area musician and fitness coach Vernon Cruz, who recently worked with Relationship Banker Allison Edwards as he opened Tribal Fitness, thus venturing into new and uncharted territory.

Fortunately for Cruz, the relationship he’s forged with Edwards has helped him chart a course forward so he can continue building and sustaining his family business well into the future and keep doing what he does best. And he’s happy to share that fact with just about anyone who comes into his orbit.

“Man, Alli’s the best,” Cruz said. “She’s part of the Tribal family. I can’t thank her enough for all of the help and support she’s given us. She’s a truly awesome person.”

While Cruz certainly needed to set up deposit accounts and the like to operate the business, he said what AB&T provided was more than a product. Edwards, he said, approached the relationship holistically, taking the time to understand Tribal Fitness, both culturally and operationally, in order to be an advisor and true resource.

“What’s great about Alli, what I love, is that she has a process,” Cruz said. “She knows what she’s doing and what she needs to understand in order to help. And she’s kept me on track with what matters, what I need to be thinking about. When we met she didn’t know me. But she took the time to talk to me, to really get to know me. And my business. She really dug in.”

That process, Cruz said, was near to his heart, as it paralleled what he does with his clients.

“It’s like what we do here,” he said. “Tribal’s not for everybody. What we do is very specific to each person. All of our clients have an individual plan that we build together. I consult with them at the beginning and then we meet regularly for check-ins and talk through what’s next for them. Each person’s fitness plan, nutrition plan, is customized to them and there’s accountability, too. I don’t want to just take folk’s money. I want them to get what they are looking for; to get healthier physically, mentally and spiritually.

“Working with Alli is like that. She wants to have a real relationship. She wants to understand me and then help me meet the goals that matter to me. That’s where it’s at.”

As AB&T readies for the start of 2025, it will continue doing what it does best: forging relationships, providing guidance and impacting lives for the better.

File Photo: Carlton Fletcher