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By Jeanna Baxter White

BeauDigital

Skyline National Bank has leased the former BB&T bank building in downtown Mocksville and will open its newest branch during the first week of December with a grand opening scheduled for Dec. 12.

Grand opening festivities will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m., refreshments, giveaways, and account specials with CD promotional rates and safe deposit box fee waivers. The first 50 people to register for a door prize will also receive a free Christmas wreath. Door prizes will be drawn every hour from noon to 4.

“National is in our name but community is in our heart,” said Blake Edwards Jr., president, and CEO. “Skyline is a community bank that has been serving small towns in North Carolina and Virginia for over 100 years. We are excited to be in Davie County. Mocksville is a tremendous community and Davie County is very much underserved from a traditional community banking standpoint as are many communities in North Carolina because of recent bank consolidation.”

He said the decision to open a branch in Mocksville was easy.

“Mocksville stood out on our radar as being a good-sized market, it is conveniently located near Winston-Salem, and it’s only 15 minutes due south from our existing branch in Yadkinville. We also had business folks, particularly Mr. Bralley (Terry Bralley, president of Davie County Economic Development Commission), reaching out to us and asking if we would be interested in bringing community banking back to Davie County,” Edwards said.  “We saw a fantastic opportunity and thought the timing was right.”

“In more than 20 years in the banking industry and after opening several branches I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited about a new branch opening,. We’ve been very impressed with the people you have in this community like Terry Bralley, Bill Junker, and Joe Harris, and other business and community leaders. The level of effort that they’ve put into helping us get here is not something you see every day.”

Forging community connections is important to Skyline’s management team. New customers will see a familiar face in Dottie Graham, a long-time member of the Mocksville banking community, who will serve as the branch manager.

Chris Pardue, senior vice president, and Davie County market executive, is pleased to be part of the local team. “I knew Greg (Edwards, executive vice president and NC market president,)  from our earlier days at Northwestern Bank and when he told me about the opportunities they had in Mocksville it sounded like a good opportunity to get involved with a bank in my own community.”

Edwards also has personal ties to the Davie community through his involvement in the early 90s with the founders of Bank of Davie, which became the Bank of the Carolinas, and is now Bank OZK.  “I got to see the potential in Davie County back then and I’m pleased to have the opportunity to work in this market now.”

The team takes pride in Skyline’s history of involvement in the communities in which it has branches and promise the same will hold true in Davie County.

“Skyline is very much a community player and citizen,” said Blake Edwards. “We tailor our involvement to each individual community. In the past, we’ve supported fire departments, rescue squads, schools, wherever the needs are in the communities we are in. We support community organizations as much as we can and encourage our employees to be active in the community whether it be non-profits, local civic organizations, or some other opportunity.”

Edwards is proud of the company’s support and commitment to its employees. “We offer a ‘kindness fund,’ administered by the human resources department, which allows employees, including board members, to designate payroll deductions which are used to help employees who are experiencing economic difficulties such as medical expenses. I think it’s pretty unique. I don’t know many organizations that do something like that.”

“We are really pleased to be here in Davie County and I think the people of Davie County will appreciate our community bank approach.”

Mocksville Town Manager Matt Settlemyer is also pleased with the bank’s decision to come to Mocksville. “A thriving downtown community bank is an important partner in the growth of Mocksville. We are excited that Skyline National Bank has chosen our community and we look forward to working with Skyline to promote their valuable services to our residents.”

Bralley agreed. “From our first meeting, the Skyline team had a hometown feel. I believe bringing a bank like Skyline downtown could be the spark that compliments the hard work that Mocksville is doing to attract new investment. Another vacant building downtown will come to life and bring new opportunities for our growing community. I see great things ahead for our downtown area.”

Skyline National Bank was formed when Grayson National Bank and Bank of Floyd – two independent, neighboring banks – combined on July 1, 2016, and rebranded as Skyline National Bank on March 13, 2017. Prior to this combination, Grayson National Bank officially opened for business on Nov. 1, 1900, in Independence, Va., and Bank of Floyd on Feb. 24, 1951.

Grayson borders Ashe and Alleghany counties in North Carolina. “Through Grayson National Bank we have been serving North Carolina customers since 1900,” Edwards said.

For the first 96 years of its operation, Grayson National branches had never expanded outside of Grayson County, Va. It wasn’t until 1996 that they expanded to an office in the adjacent city of Galax and in 2000 they opened their first North Carolina branch in Sparta.

On July 1, 2018, Great State Bank – a neighboring bank with branches in Wilkesboro, Boone, and Yadkinville – joined with Skyline National Bank to expand the communities served in northwestern North Carolina. The bank has 20 branches from Roanoke to Boone.

Skyline National Bank is at 119 Gaither St., Mocksville, 336-244-5200. The hours for lobby and drive-rhrough are Monday-Thursday 9-5, Friday 9-6.