Nathan Deal: “many institutions affect the progress of communities and States across this Nation as we continually evolve in our march…”

“many institutions affect the progress of communities and States across this Nation as we continually evolve in our march of civilization. Usually, those of us in government in particular think about those institutions being governmental units, or maybe even churches or philanthropic foundations. We usually think those are the institutions that affect this. Recently I was reminded of a rather profound affect that the banking institutions of this country have on our history, and especially history of my congressional district and my State. Yesterday, my good friend Wesley Smith celebrated 35 years of service as president of Northwest Georgia Bank. Now, most of you do not know where that is. But it is in, as its name implies, in northwest Georgia, headquartered in Ringgold, Georgia, right below the Tennessee line just south of Chattanooga. Wesley, in those 35 years, has become the longest-serving president of this rather dynamic banking institution, which itself was created in 1904. During the tenure of Wesley Smith, the bank has grown from $6 million to more than $500 million, has tripled its number of branch offices, and now operates in both Georgia and Tennessee. Wesley has served as chairman of the Georgia Bankers Association and is currently serving on the board of directors of the American Bankers Association. His service on community boards, chambers of commerce, college foundations, and other charitable efforts are simply too numerous to mention.…”