Early and Co.

Challenging Times, Exciting Opportunities

Yesterday my wife and I enjoyed a great day at the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburg, Tennessee! For those who haven't heard of it, it's a family fun event event, with a daily admissions price of only $ 3, in a beautiful small community not far from Chattanooga where thousands ( some say as many as 40,000 to 5o,000) of folks gather every year on the last week-end in April to create, sample, and enjoy every conceivable recipe of cornbread food delicasy!

Early & Company is privileged to have a bank client with an office in South Pittsburg, and while this photography nut was snapping shots of their food area with folks lined up to get the bank's secret recipe " Patsy's Cornbread Salad", crowds were shopping for local crafts, the mobile lady on stilts was towering above the crowds, a cornbread recipe cooking contest between local bank CEO's raising money for a children's charity was drawing attention, and lots of other fun stuff was happening, I thought about the cross section of folks there. Folks, who in spite of challenging times and economic uncertainties, were excited. Whatever our challenges in America, we are resilient and we overcome. If you ever doubt that, just get out to events across our country, to the Saturday baseball and soccer games with cheering families and fans, to people living in the now, looking to the future! As you work and plan in your banks today, take a moment or two to reflect on the many privileges and opportunities we have to serve and grow our banks. And think of the opportunites! They're waiting for each of us!