Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 11

139 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 11 FL INT COMMUNI TY BANK – and a healthy consumer business, as well, from their single location in Albany. Early on, the intention was to open a satellite branch within two or three years. “But,” Tomlinson explains, “with our willingness to use technology and a hard-working team, we’ve been able to grow as fast as we are able to, financially, with just the one office. Before the pandemic, we were going out to our customer base a lot, meeting them at their place of business… and getting out there, getting involved with folks, is what’s gotten us the business.” According to Griffin, “There’s 15 years of difference between Scott and I in age and experience, but we’ve been close friends for a long time, and what we’ve built has been built on a foundation of faith. Every morning, our entire team comes together and prays and recites our mission statement. It was done virtually when COVID was at its height, and now in the lobby of our building. God has blessed that effort to where we are today – a very successful $300 million bank in a non-growth market. We’ve created a culture through the efforts of every team member, that is unlike any other type of culture that we ever worked for.” Shanna Skipper, Universal Banker, started at Flint Community Bank in Jan. 2020 . Then, in March, everything shut down due to COVID-19. She recalls, “I wasn’t from Albany and I knew no one but within a week or two I was already feeling that this place was really different. I had high expectations in the beginning and they’ve been exceeded. For the two and a half months we were closed, we all came into work and it gave us a time to bond. I personally learned a lot about what this organization stood for. It was a blessing to see that it really ran the way I was told it did.” Griffin says that their dedicated group of folks was hired “to use their brain.” To make decisions for the best of the organization based on their experience. And the bank’s leaders encourage people to do just that. He states, “I would rather Senior Management Team Frank Griffin, President Shanna Skipper, Universal Banker