Bank of Clovis moving into region

The Bank of Clovis has been working on expanding in the region, but in a way you may not recognize.

The banks don't bear the name "Bank of Clovis." They are the Bank of Clayton, the Bank of Logan and soon there will be a Bank of Tucumcari and the Bank of Des Moines, all divisions of The Bank of Clovis.

Bank of Clovis President Randy Harris came up with the idea with the first bank he opened.

"The first one was the Bank of Clovis. Look, the bottom line is rural communities on the east side of the state need good solid community banks that are committed to providing good, solid banking services for that community," Harris said Monday.

Harris said we are in a time when larger banks are expanding into larger markets.

"We believe in expanding to rural markets," Harris said.

Harris described how when he and his crew opened the Bank of Clayton there were two other banks in the town.

"There were two local banks who sold to larger regional banks and those larger regional banks sold to larger metropolitan banks.

It doesn't mean they're bad banks, it just means their focus is different," Harris said.

Harris said when the Bank of Clovis opens in a rural eastern New Mexico town the focus is on the local community and the surrounding area.

"Our focus at the Bank of Clovis is on Clovis and the surrounding area. In Tucumcari the president may be involved in such things as the school board, the Chamber of Commerce and so on. ... We are focused on the community," Harris said.

Harris said the banks aren't in the communities to gather the deposits and take them out of the town. "We're there to invest in the community and the surrounding area," he said.

"When people invest in the town's bank, we then have money to loan to people in those communities and the communities grow.

There are schools created, jobs created, industries are created.

Our communities are only as strong as we make them," Harris said.