Springs Valley Bank and Trust Celebrates 120 Years in Business

Jasper - Springs Valley Bank and Trust is celebrating its 120th year in business at all six of its Southwestern Indiana locations.

What began with a singular bank just outside the West Baden Springs Hotel arches in 1902 has turned into a Southern Indiana banking power.

West Baden National Bank, year unknown.

In 1958, Arnold Habig merged West Baden National Bank and French Lick State Bank under the Springs Valley Bank and Trust name.

French Lick State Bank, year unknown.

Though Springs Valley Bank and Trust had a large footprint in Southwestern Indiana, previously, Chief Operating Officer Craig Buse says the bank has seen a boom in the past decade.

"I started in the early 2000's and at that time we were much smaller than we are now and maybe not as progressive," Buse said. "We've really, over the last, what, eight years or more, we've had consecutive record years and really grown the franchise and become part of the communities we serve. It's been really exciting for me to see the growth and where we've come from in those 20 years."

In addition to two branches in Jasper, one in French Lick, and one in Paoli, the bank has recently opened two new branches. The Washington branch opened in 2019; the Princeton branch opened in 2020.

From 1902 to 2022, Springs Valley Bank and Trust has changed not only in name and appearance, but in the technologies employed.

Inside of the West Baden National Bank

Among other methods, the bank has employed couriers, computers the size of entire rooms, and now, online banking. Mobile banking, Buse says, helped them to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, one of their biggest challenges to date.

"We spent every day for probably three months trying to navigate that with ourselves and our customers," Buse said. 'We're getting new information every day and we're trying to pass that on to our customers. We did over $30 million dollars in PPP loans for local businesses." 

Springs Valley Bank and Trust Chief Executive Officer Jamie Shinabarger says the bank placed a heavy emphasis on helping businesses keep their doors open and community members in keeping their homes.

"Helping the businesses stay in business and then also facilitating some of the payments for households was a big part in what we did," Shinabarger said. "It is tougher when a lot of your brand is based on relationship and you don't have the ability to do face-to-face." 

The next challenge ahead, Shinabarger says, is continued growth while keeping a personal, local touch.

"We've done that because we've been engaged in our communities and have really provided a relationship banking solution," Shinabarger said. "It's harder as you get bigger, it's very hard to maintain that. That'll be our challenge - finding enough scale to manage overhead, but at the same time, to be connected to our customers." 

In April of 2022, the Newton Street location in Jasper held an open house to showcase their branch remodel.

Remodel of the Jasper Springs Valley Bank and Trust Lobby

Shinabarger and Buse say that the goal is to host open houses in each of their six branches.

In addition, the company plans to continue to award annual Community Reinvestment Act Scholarships to area high school graduates. This year, Springs Valley awarded an individual scholarship of $1,000.00 to Tinsley Moffatt of Paoli Junior-Senior High School.