What started out as a week’s long celebration of the nation’s small businesses has quickly turned into a month’s worth of recognition.
National Small Business Month (May) is that time of the year when we take into account the 99.7 percent of American employers that make up the small business segment, and what they contribute to our overall economy and culture.
But, for all that they contribute, small businesses simply can’t do it alone. As any owner will tell you, everything they do is with the support and backing of their banking partner. And the banks that support them understand how important they are to their financial institutions. With that in mind, we set out to highlight the relationship banks that are celebrating this National Small Business Month both digitally, and in person.
- Ameris Bank: Highlighting customers and providing small business insights are key components of Ameris Bank’s playbook for National Small Business Month.
The Georgia-based bank has a dedicated “Local Biz” page on their website that includes a number of videos that highlight their customers, as well as blogs that provide advice. You should also check out their social presense, that is tweeting great content for small business owners all month long under the hashtags #SmallBusiness and #DreamSmallBiz.
- BayCoast Bank: Serving Massachusettes and Rhode Island, BayCoast Bank is a community financial institution that understands the importance of shopping local.
To celebrate National Small Business Month, BayCoast is taking a particularly digital approach that helps them stand out among the competition. They’re helping raise awareness for the #ShopLocal movement by posting on Twitter all month long about “The Ripple Effect When You Shop Local.” The social campaign helps consumers better understand the power of their dollar and encourages them to shop small during the month of May. Here’s one of our favorites:
- BBVA Compass: There’s dipping your toe in the water, and then there’s what BBVA is doing for National Small Business Month. The Birmingham-based relationship bank is pulling out all the stops for small businesses this month, offering a number of deals and even putting on seminars across its branches.
This is the ninth year they’ll be celebrating the month in such fashion, according to the bank, and their offers apply to both current customers and prospects.
To learn more about BBVA’s small business seminars, entrepreneur competitions, and the rest of their offerings in May, view their announcement here.
- Bremer Bank: Our friends at Bremer are all about their community, and there’s no greater example of this than their recent brand and website redesign. Relaunching in the middle of National Small Business Month, Bremer put their clients and the local community at the forefront of their digital presence and online messaging.
Their Facebook page speaks directly to the small business owner, and they’ve even gone further in dedicating an entire section of their website to small business banking, going beyond solutions to offer insights and guides as well. Check it out!
- Eastern Bank: As the largest and oldest mutually owned bank in the country, Eastern has been serving the Greater Boston area for more than 200 years. Celebrating the small businesses who have made this possible is in their DNA, and Eastern is putting that on display during this National Small Business Month.
Getting out in the community is the underlying theme for Eastern’s branches, this year. Thus far, they’ve held an Empowering Women Luncheon in conjunction with the Quincy Chamber of Commerce and an event with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Cape Cod, as well as their annual community mixer.
- First Federal Lakewood: Located in Lakewood, Ohio, First Federal is doing what they can to meet their customers where they are—online.
While their LinkedIn feed is chock-full of posts and videos that highlight their small business customers’ successes, there are a few that stick out above the rest during National Small Business Month.
This video does a great job of highlighting the Daily Press Juicery and Cafe, telling their success story and why they choose to bank with First Federal. And this video highlighting Master Printing is another one of our favorites highlighting a community cornerstone.
- First Tennessee: Those in the Volunteer State know First Tennessee as a trusted banking partner and you can see why through their celebrations of small businesses this month.
The 155-year-old bank is wearing a number of hats during National Small Business Month. They put together a great video highlighting one of their favorite small business success stories, Kendall Brothers Trucking, and made sure to show their apprciation for others in their community on LinkedIn. And, when they’re not playing storyteller or community cheerleader, they’re helping educate the small businesses in their region, like with this infographic on SBA loans.
- PNC Bank: The Pittsburg-based financial institution has been a go-to for small businesses in its city since the mid-1800s, and it’s returning the favor by highlighting one of its very best customers.
In honor of National Small Business Month, PNC put together a free webcast Q&A with beauty industry titan Bobbi Brown, to highlight how one of their small business owners went from startup to a billion-dollar brand. Attendees were taken through Brown’s journey and given invaluable insights on how to get started, networking for success, pushing through diversity, and other insights.
Although the webcast took place on May 16, small business owners and fans can watch the webcast replay here.
- Provident Bank: New Jersey’s Provident Bank is celebrating National Small Business Month by giving small businesses a break. A pricing break, that is.
All month long, Provident is helping small businesses out by providing them with promotional pricing on small business products. Further, Provident is highlighting their customers by spotlighting a small business at each of their branches. Read their press release with more info here.
- Santander: In their third year of celebrations, Santander is no newcomer to National Small Business month, either.
And, just as small businesses put a premium on their relationships with customers, so does this community bank. Beyond encouraging their teams to post to LinkedIn with the #SmallBusinessMonth hashtag, Santander put on big networking events at a number of their branches.
They also took it a step further online. Check out their “Business First” blog for pages, upon pages of great resources for their small business customers.
- SunTrust: Taking a different approach than most, SunTrust is celebrating National Small Business Month by arming their customers with information that can help them succeed. Specifically, SunTrust is using the month of May to launch their Small Business Survey that’s based on the success plans for small businesses in 2019.
Check out this video that highlights the survey in this great LinkedIn post, or head over to the SunTrust website to get these insights first hand.
How’s your bank celebrating National Small Business Month? Share your stories with us on LinkedIn and Twitter!