A Special Message from ACB President

March 13, 2023

To our valued customers,

The headlines about unsettled times with the economy, inflation, rising interest rates, and now troubled banks are concerns for all of us. Within the past few days some media outlets expressed concerns about more widespread troubles looming for some banks across the country. In response to these concerns, I am writing to reaffirm that Adams Community Bank is a financially sound, well-capitalized community bank where we have focused on a common sense approach towards banking since our founding in 1869.

The banks that failed in early March had operating styles very different than most community banks as they invested in a riskier style of banking, and they were heavily weighted towards venture capital, leveraged start-up companies, or crypto currency. These stock banks had the added pressure to produce high returns for their shareholders.

As a mutual bank Adams Community Bank does not have shareholders and is owned by our depositors. We do not have the pressure to make decisions that return immediate profits for shareholders; we have more flexibility to make common sense financial decisions that prioritize our customers’ best interests and the Bank’s long-term success. That is why we have only grown stronger and more capitalized despite periods of economic uncertainty. For years we have consistently received Bauer Financial’s coveted five-star rating as a superior financial institution, a distinction held by less than 4% of banks in the country.

What does this mean for you? In times of uncertainty or concern, your financial assets are safe and secure at Adams Community Bank, just as they have been since our founding. We have served your banking needs through countless economic cycles, World Wars, the Great Depression, the Dot Com bubble, the Great Recession of 2008 and COVID-19, all as a safe haven for our customer’s money.

Adams Community Bank offers the added security of having 100% of deposits insured. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures all deposits up to $250,000 per depositor. The “value-added” benefit of being a customer of our bank is that since the 1930’s we have also been a member of the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF) which provides supplemental insurance covering deposits in excess of FDIC limits. Now may be a good time to inquire about the level of deposit insurance available at other financial institutions or credit unions with which you may do business. Some of them will not be able to match the stability and benefit of 100% insurance on your deposits.

Our team stands ready and available to discuss your banking needs and find the products and services that work for you. And if you are not yet an Adams Community Bank customer, I invite you to stop into any of our branches throughout Berkshire County to learn more about us. Our staff not only live and work right here in the Berkshires, but we also volunteer our time and money to improve the quality of life throughout western Massachusetts.

For your reference the bank website at www.adamscommunity.com has copies of brochures from both the FDIC and DIF explaining insurance coverage for your deposits in more detail. If you want to learn more about the Depositors Insurance Fund you may call Matt Calnan directly at 781-994-5580 or visit their website at www.difxs.com. If we can be of service to you during these turbulent times, I encourage you to call me directly at 413-749-1150 or call any of our officers at the main number, which is 413-743-0001.

Sincerely,

Charles P. O’Brien
President and CEO