Local bank chooses to keep things small and personal

At McIntosh State Bank, customers aren't just numbers in a cold and impersonal computer database. They have names. They have fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, nieces and nephews. They're people.

Organized in 1964 in Jackson, Ga., by merchants who recognized the need for a local bank, the institution has always focused on the citizens of the market it serves. The main office is located where it's always been, right there in Jackson, with three other branches in Monticello, McDonough and Locust Grove. As banks go, it isn't the biggest chain in the world.

And that's just fine with McIntosh officials.

"We remain available to our customers on a personal basis," says Ron Willard, a vice president and commercial loan officer at McIntosh. "They don't have to communicate via e-mail or make an appointment with someone who works in a faraway city or state. Each office has certain authorities which enables the bank to make quicker decisions on various requests.

"Banks all offer the same basic services needed by the vast majority of its community. We can simply do it quicker and easier. If any customer needs to meet with the president or CEO, these highest members of senior management are readily available."

So what can a bank like McIntosh offer customers in an uncertain economic climate?

"First and foremost, we are here and we are going to be here," Willard says. "The most beneficial service we can offer is honesty and a genuine responsibility that is felt toward the communities we serve. Because we don't have to get an answer to a tough question from out of state, for example, we have more flexibility in working out problems and reacting to a potential opportunity.

"The credit markets have never been tighter, and we realize that and do everything possible to keep funds circulating in the local market. Whether it is a depositor or a loan customer, we deal with them on an individual basis. We either know them personally or we get to know them on that level. We never forget there is a human being behind any request we receive."

The McIntosh branch where Willard works is in McDonough, about 15 minutes from Atlanta Motor Speedway. If you don't think NASCAR pulling into town means something to local businesses, think again. The sport is a vital part of the economy in areas near where the circuit visits.

Willard has seen it on a year-in, year-out basis.

"We not only see the activity of our merchant customers increase during these times, but you also find out how many of your customers are race fans," Willard says. "They will stop by on their way to the track with RVs loaded and ready for the weekend. We have plans for an office in that part of the county at some point in the future and we know the business the track generates for local merchants will be very beneficial."

Maybe best of all for those in the area who follow NASCAR, Willard is a long-time, dyed-in-the-wool, hard-core, wouldn't-give-it-up-for-anything-in-the-world race fan. Willard's father and grandfather took him and his twin brother, Don, to what was then Atlanta International Raceway in 1966 -- they were all of three years old. As cars took to the track, the boys' attentions were turned to a solid blue car with the No. 43 on the doors and roof.

Willard has been a Richard Petty fan ever since.

Here's how much Willard loves the sport ... you have never, ever seen the caliber of models that this guy can construct. He built his first kit back in 1973, an MPC kit of a Jim Hurtubise Chevelle sponsored by Miller beer. Willard says the kit was a disaster, but he was hooked nonetheless. His second? Richard Petty, of course.

His tastes aren't geared toward the usual run-of-the-mill paint schemes, either. He loves tracking down obscure cars from days gone by, like the car owned by D.K. Ulrich that Petty once drove, Dan Gurney's SuperBird or the No. 1 Petty Enterprises car driven by Dick Brooks in 1985.

His most favorite challenge involved landing a picture of the car that Al Loquasto drove in his Winston Cup debut, at Pocono in 1981. The car was owned by D.K. Ulrich and sponsored by Schaefer beer. They found pictures of Ulrich-owned cars from 1981 -- there were a gracious plenty of 'em out there, because no less than 18 different drivers took the wheel of Ulrich's machines that season. Eighteen? Yes, 18.

For two years, Willard and buddy Chase Whitaker of Brentwood, Tenn., searched for a shot of the car to use as reference for Willard's work. Finally, they found the magical picture and within days, Willard started on die-cast and plastic replicas of the car.

"We were determined," Willard says. "By the time the quest was accomplished, we'd received help from Loquasto's relatives and D.K. Ulrich himself. We wanted it because it was just so unique. The car ran this way one time only and Al Loquasto passed away in 1991 in a private plane crash. It was the equivalent of finding the proverbial needle in a haystack, but we prevailed in the end. That will always be one of my favorite models and a prized possession."