New Chickasaw Community Bank set for OKC

This article appeared in the July 2021 edition of the Chickasaw Times

OKLAHOMA CITY - Governor Bill Anoatubby led groundbreaking ceremonies for a new Chickasaw Community Bank location, 7420 W. Memorial Road. He was assisted by Chickasaw Community Bank CEO T.W. Shannon as well as bank board members, Chickasaw Nation elected officials and staff.

The new location will enable the bank to better serve existing customers and meet the bank’s mission of “Building Better Lives for Everyone.”

“For more than two decades, Chickasaw Community Bank has served the Oklahoma City community, Gov. Anoatubby said.

“It is a business that draws from traditional Chickasaw values and a history of being a good neighbor to assist all Oklahomans working to build a better life.

“Today, we open a new, bolder and even brighter chapter for Chickasaw Community Bank. A chapter where we become even more engaged in the development of Oklahoma City and build upon our experience to better serve our customers than ever before.

“The bank has helped countless people buy homes, save for their children’s college tuition, build businesses and provide local residents with the financial freedom to follow their dreams.

“Chickasaw Community Bank has excelled at delivering these services, and as a result has expanded in both scope and scale within this community.

“Because of this expansion, our bank now requires a building of its own – a new headquarters to house our existing staff and continue growing our employee base,” Gov. Anoatubby said.

Chickasaw Community Bank CEO T.W. Shannon said breaking ground on the new bank headquarters celebrated hundreds of years of self-determination of the Chickasaw people.

“The new facility is a culmination of Chickasaw history and a continuation of the Chickasaw story, which includes the establishment of the Chickasaw Bank before statehood, and I am proud Chickasaw Community Bank is a part of that history, Mr. Shannon said.

“At Chickasaw Community Bank, we really take to heart the idea of building better lives for everyone and enhancing the overall quality of life of the Chickasaw people. This building commemorates Governor Anoatubby’s vision, which is, we not only serve the Chickasaw people, but we are great neighbors to everyone,” he said.

Since Mr. Shannon began leading the bank 2017, Chickasaw Community Bank has grown 148%, from $133 million to $331 million in total assets as of May 2021.

Total capital during the same time period grew 90% from $17 million to $33 million.

Wholly-owned by the Chickasaw Nation, Chickasaw Community Bank has helped small businesses, homeowners and community members build better lives for almost two decades. Formerly known as Bank2, the bank changed its name in 2020 to Chickasaw Community Bank to better reflect Chickasaw values and heritage, and the new four-story building will pay homage to the Chickasaw culture.

Designed to highlight nature, the building incorporates many native sustainable materials. The stone color will reflect the color palette of exterior and interior finish materials that express nature and honor colors special to the Chickasaw community. The lobby will feature a Chickasaw Warrior Statue, a symbol of the strength and resiliency of the Chickasaw people, and the unconquered and unconquerable spirit of the Chickasaw Nation.

The nearly 33,000 square-foot building will feature 79 offices, six conference rooms and a multipurpose area for trainings and events, and serve as the bank’s headquarters. The bank employees 200.

The new location, in northwest Oklahoma City, promises to be an epicenter of commerce and trade in the years to come, Gov. Anoatubby said.

“We recognize this area’s potential for economic growth, for innovation and infrastructure development, and we want to be a driving force behind that development,” Gov. Anoatubby said.

Chickasaw Community Bank, he said, is an important part of the tribe’s diverse portfolio of more than 100 business holdings, which also include manufacturing, energy, health care, media, technology, hospitality, retail and tourism. The Chickasaw Nation supports more than 22,000 jobs and $1.2 billion in wages and benefits as part of a $3.7 billion annual economic contribution to the Oklahoma economy.

Business revenues provide the majority of funding for more than 200 programs and services, such as health care, housing and education for Chickasaw citizens and First Americans.

Chickasaw Community Bank is a full-service financial institution that offers a diverse array of checking accounts, savings accounts, investment products, mortgages and lending services to individuals and businesses all across the region. Bauer Financial rated the institution a 5-star bank in 2021, and Seifried & Brew LLC places the bank in the top 15% of all U.S. banks.

The Daily Oklahoman has named the bank a “Top Place to Work in Oklahoma” six times.

The tribe’s involvement in the banking business began more than a century ago when the Bank of the Chickasaw Nation was established in Indian Territory in the early 1900s in the historic capitol city of Tishomingo.

Built on Main Street as a depository for all Chickasaw Nation funds, former Chickasaw Nation Governor Robert Maxwell Harris served as the first bank president. Banking operations began with $25,000 in capital, which doubled in a few days.

The two-story Romanesque granite structure was proclaimed to be “the handsomest, most complete, and the most secure bank in the two (Choctaw and Chickasaw) territories.”