Pike National Bank is fulfilling its mission to stay involved in the communities it serves since opening 37 years ago by partnering in a three-phase project to revitalize downtown McComb.
“This year, most recently, we have taken on a project downtown just to give it a facelift and, hopefully, improve perception of our downtown area,” said bank CEO and president Jennifer Wallace.
First Bank, whose main branch is on Third Street in downtown McComb, is partnering with Pike National Bank in the downtown project.
“Our goal, again, was for the two community banks to come together and fund this project to help improve our downtown area,” Wallace said. “I firmly believe that the downtown area is the heart of the city. ... Our goal is to establish more commerce and retail downtown again.”
Wallace said Phase 1 of the revitalization project, which includes chemical and pressure washing of the sidewalks and tree trimming, has been completed.
Phase 2 is to color up downtown with artwork on buildings representative of Southwest Mississippi and Pike County. She said artwork would feature themes including plants, music, sports and the railroad.
She said the revitalization will be taking place as the McComb railroad depot is being rebuilt following a major fire in 2021.
“I think that the timing is perfect,” she said. “We are a railroad town. There are some specific pieces that are going to relate to the railroad aspect of this area. Having that in conjunction with the rebuilding of the railroad museum — I hope it all just works together to bring back the life to downtown that we’re searching for.”
Wallace said she along with Pike County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Catherine Sanders, Vickie Webb and Charlie Lewis from First Bank and Pike National’s Sam Sanders are all working on Phase 2.
Wallace said Phase 3 will consist of improving the lighting of downtown.
“We will determine what that looks like once we get through the second phase and move on to the third phase,” she said.
Pike National Bank also comes together with the community during the Christmas season. Executive Vice President Nichole Hall is carrying on the Christmas tradition Wallace’s father, Joe Sones, started when he founded the bank.
“Christmas is huge here at the bank,” Hall said. “It always has been from when Jennifer’s dad founded the bank. “He loved Christmas. He, along with Diane Cothern, made Christmas from the very beginning huge around here. And so we’ve tried to carry on that tradition.”
Hall said lights are displayed at the bank’s branches in Pike, Walthall and Lincoln counties.
“It takes a lot to maintain the lights outside,” she said. “The rain knocks them down. The bulbs blew, so we worked heavily the past several years to get all of our lights back up at the main office, to have the full block decorated.”
Inside the main branch on Rawls Drive, there is a 12-foot-tall Christmas tree and Christmas village.
“We love our decorations,” Hall said. “We love to see people riding by to look at them and to come inside and take pictures.”
A night with Santa will be from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the main branch. Children will be able to have their pictures taken with Santa and have cookies.
Wallace said Pike National Bank decision to put the local community first has been a key to its success.
“We’re able to make personal, personal decisions with our customers because we know our customers,” she said. “We live here. We understand the environments they’re working in and they’re living with. And we’re able to make more specialized credit decisions when lending.”
