Business View Magazine | Volume 9, Issue 3

99 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 the community the resources it needed. Bret Tiller, Vice President Lending, recalls, “When the COVID situation happened and the CARES Act came out there were a lot of questions from our community, our customers, and their accountants, about how relief was going to get allocated to the businesses that desperately needed it at the time. There was a lot of uncertainty, so our team really stepped up with interpreting what type of services were available. We really dug into that.” During that time, the bank took on a leadership role in the community, leading a weekly town hall series on Zoom, with local health departments, doctors, and the community, offering guidance and information. Virtual meetings with other financial institutions, accountants, and customers established Flatwater Bank as a source of knowledge and support through the uncertainty. Amber Burge, Flatwater Bank Marketing Officer, FLATWATER BANK suggests, “Our goal as a bank is that if our customers and our communities are successful, then we will be successful. We play a big role in our community. Regardless of customers or non-customers, we reached out and did a lot throughout the community to make sure that everybody was aware of the programs that were being offered. We wanted them to know that our door was always open to help them.” Flatwater Bank approached COVID challenges with an effort to aid any local businesses that needed support. The bank became an expert resource for businesses and accountants looking to learn about not only the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), but also other programs and tax credits, and how those might benefit them. “They all fell into a couple of different buckets, mainly on the loan side,” says Tiller. “The first one was PPP. The second one that we helped customers with was a direct loan with SBA called the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). Then, we