On March 5, Spearman-based First National Bank and Guymon, Oklahoma-based Bank of the Panhandle announced their intent to merge and become Panhandle First Bank. The two banks have frequently partnered over the past 39 years to serve their communities, and have determined that the communities will be better served by combining the two institutions into one. “We are better together and are committed to building the Panhandle for future generations,” the banks note in a press release. They intend to complete the merger during the second quarter of 2024.
The shareholders and team members have lived and worked in the Panhandle for generations. Many are living out legacies started by their great-great grandparents who settled in the area five generations ago. Bank of the Panhandle opened in 1976. In 1979, it was purchased by a group of investors, including the Baggerly family, Long family and Etling family. All three families remain shareholders today. One of the founding board members was Max Baggerly of Spearman.
Just a few years later a new charter was issued for a bank in Spearman. Bill and Ginger Pittman, along with a large group of community investors that included Max Baggerly, opened First National Bank in 1985. First National Bank currently operates branches in Spearman, Perryton and Dumas. Baggerly served as a board member of Bank of the Panhandle and First National Bank from the day First National Bank opened until he passed away in 2007. At that time, his son, Steve Baggerly, chairman of the board at Bank of the Panhandle, was appointed to the board at First National Bank.
“Working in Guymon and serving on the board in Spearman gave us the opportunity to determine what worked best between the locations,” Steve Baggerly says. “Whenever I believed First National had a better process than ours, I adopted it. They did the same—so we’ve been aligning policies and procedures for 17 years.”
In 2011, Sally Pittman Hawkins, Bill and Ginger’s daughter, joined Bank of the Panhandle. She came to the bank by way of brief careers in public accounting and law, but, she says, “My heart was in community banking. I grew up inside First National Bank and as I got older, I realized the critical role that locally owned, community banks play for small communities. I wanted to be part of that, so I was looking for a bank to join and Steve was looking for a CFO. I moved to Guymon, and Steve taught me how to be a banker.”
In 2012, Bill Pittman joined Bank of the Panhandle’s board, and in 2016, Ginger Pittman joined the board of directors of Panhandle Bancshares Inc., the holding company of Bank of the Panhandle. Over the past 12 years, these banks have continued to leverage each other’s strengths to better serve their respective communities.
