Independent Banker magazine, the flagship publication of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), published its list of the 2025 “Best Community Banks to Work For” in the December issue. Five community banks across the U.S. made the list, each according to the bank’s asset size, and two of the five are headquartered in Texas: Lubbock-based Peoples Bank and Katy-based Texas Traditions Bank. According to Independent Banker, “these honorees were selected for their shared commitment to creating workplace cultures that inspire creativity and philanthropy and empower employees to meaningfully contribute to the success of the communities they serve.”
“Community banks succeed because of their relationship-based focus, starting with their employees,” says Rebeca Romero Rainey, ICBA president and CEO. “This year’s honorees exemplify that care, culture and shared purpose can create spaces where employees are valued, engaged and driven to better their communities. We congratulate these banks—voted by their employees—as exemplary places to work that help local communities prosper.”
Participating community banks were ranked based on the results of a nationwide survey, administered by Avannis, an independent research agency. Survey participants answered 48 scaled questions, which were used to calculate a composite score. Eligible banks were sorted into five asset categories, with the highest-scoring community bank in each category named as a winner in that class. Selection criteria considered this year included:
- A commitment to building diverse and inclusive workplaces.
- Opportunities for professional development and skills advancement.
- Performance recognition programs and competitive compensation that reward excellence.
Texas Traditions Bank ($380 million in assets) was recognized for “creating a fast-growing, people-centered startup culture that blends high trust with high energy,” according to Independent Banker. Peoples Bank ($1.1 billion in assets) received the award “for fostering a close-knit culture that nurtures talent and facilitates bank ownership.”
“Every employee at Peoples Bank can expect a phone call from CEO and chairman Larry Allen on their birthday,” Independent Banker notes. “He doesn’t just give a quick birthday greeting, though. He sings the classic Happy Birthday to You song. That charming interaction exemplifies the relationship Allen has with the 165 employees at Peoples Bank.”
“We have done everything we can to try to facilitate bank ownership,” Allen says. “I share with our people all the time, ‘It’s not your paycheck that increases your net worth; it’s your equity ownership in something.’ So the number one reason I encourage ownership is that it helps increase their net worth. But number two, we firmly believe that people make decisions differently when they’re owners, as opposed to just employees.”
Of Texas Traditions Bank’s recognition, Independent Banker notes: “When Ryan Whitzel and Keith Badough decided to establish their own bank in 2022, they knew it was something of a long shot. Coming out of the pandemic, de novo banks were few and far between. Plus, although they had many decades of experience between them, neither had been a bank executive. This year, Texas Traditions Bank has grown to $380 million in assets, and in September, it came out of the de novo bank timeframe.”
One of the keys to getting their community bank right, Whitzel and Badough told the publication, was choosing the right team. To that end, they approached 21 bankers they had worked with before and asked them to join their new venture.
“We gathered a group of people whom we knew already cared about each other and about their customers and had the type of work ethic and capabilities that we were looking for,” says Whitzel, CEO. “And the most humbling thing was that everybody we asked to join us said yes.”
This is Independent Banker’s sixth-annual Best Community Banks to Work For awards. Click here to view all of this year’s recipients.
