CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Virginia National Bank is celebrating its 28th anniversary this Wednesday, marking another year of serving its valuable customers.

As the bank celebrates this milestone, three longtime employees shared some of their experiences working for VNB and how it has changed over the years.

A lasting legacy

When VNB first opened up on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall, it had, from the get-go, a personal, community-based environment.

“We had that community feeling, where everybody knew everyone,” Accounts Payable Supervisor Rachel Burton said.

That was aided in part by how small VNB’s original location on the mall was. But even 28 years later, the bank still sets itself apart from bigger, national banks by fostering its strong, community environment.

Developing relationships

One way VNB has maintained that community feeling is by keeping its customers with the employees they’ve been working with over the years. COO & Audit Manager Sherrie Huber said she still gets call from customers she used to work with at VNB’s Downtown offices.

“It’s just easier,” she said of working with longtime customers. “And it’s probably easier for us as well because I know already know their history and everything else that’s going on. So, it’s easier.”

These types of relationships in banking are almost only found in local banks like VNB and is just another reason why VNB is different from bigger banks.

Making it about people

People are the backbone of VNB. and its relationships with its customers are the vital to what they know. Those relationships go beyond the typical relationships between bank workers and their customers. CSR Renita Bland even shared how she has received so many pictures of her customers’ dogs, that she’s started printing them out and posting them around her office.

“We know their names more than we know the customers,'” she said.

After all these years, Burton said she hopes people remember VNB for the service it provides.

“I hope they think that it is truly a community bank,” she said. “Where you do feel like you are not a number.”