First National Bank opens its first Amarillo/Canyon location

Brianna Maestas, Amarillo Globe-News
·3 min read

First National Bank (FNB) hosted a grand opening and ribbon cutting for its new Amarillo/ Canyon location, 8700 FM 2219, Thursday afternoon.

During the grand opening of the new bank, the Amarillo, Canyon and Hispanic Chamber of Commerce were in attendance to commemorate the grand opening. After the ribbon cutting, the bank was open to all in attendance for a cocktail hour from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The Amarillo Chamber of Commerce commemorates the grand opening of the First National Bank Amarillo/Canyon location Thursday afternoon with ribbon cutting.
The Amarillo Chamber of Commerce commemorates the grand opening of the First National Bank Amarillo/Canyon location Thursday afternoon with ribbon cutting.
The Amarillo Hispanic Chamber of Commerce commemorates the grand opening of the First National Bank Amarillo/Canyon location with a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday.
The Amarillo Hispanic Chamber of Commerce commemorates the grand opening of the First National Bank Amarillo/Canyon location with a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday.

The establishment of the new Amarillo/Canyon site marks the bank's fourth location in the area, including two locations in Hereford and one in Friona.

"We have always had customers in this area, and we have employees and directors and stockholders that live in this area. So, we are excited to serve those people, as well as hopefully some new individuals within the area," Wade Easley, president/CEO of FNB Herford, Friona, and Amarillo/Canyon Banking Center said.

"We have eight to ten percent of our customer base that already lived in this area," Easley added. "You would be surprised the number of individuals that live in this area and commute to work in Hereford or vice versa, so this is just a great location fit for us."

The Canyon Chamber of Commerce commemorates the grand opening of the First National Bank Amarillo/Canyon location with a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday.
The Canyon Chamber of Commerce commemorates the grand opening of the First National Bank Amarillo/Canyon location with a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday.
Community members attend the grand opening of First National Bank's new Amarillo/Canyon location on Thursday.
Community members attend the grand opening of First National Bank's new Amarillo/Canyon location on Thursday.

With the opening of the new location, FNB was able to employ an approximate 10 new full-time and part-time employees, as well as some previous established employees who have been transferred to the new location.

Easley stated that the expansion of the company has been a long awaited opening. He said they actually began the planning for the expansion and bought the land approximately four years ago, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but like many, faced some pandemic-related setbacks. The president/CEO said the new location was established in just under a year prior to the grand opening, including a month of soft opening operations.

"This is a community bank, relationship bank," Easley said. "We strive to get to know our customers, know them by name and invite all the services to those we can serve. We aren't here to just turn a fee or profit off people; we want to have a relationship and help our customers. We want to build friendships and long lasting relationships."

First National Bank of Amarillo/Canyon celebrated the grand opening of its new location Thursday afternoon with ribbon cuttings and a cocktail hour.
First National Bank of Amarillo/Canyon celebrated the grand opening of its new location Thursday afternoon with ribbon cuttings and a cocktail hour.
Kelly Norman, executive director of the Education Foundation of Canyon Independent School District, left, accepts a $5,000 donation from First National Bank of Amarillo/Canyon during its grand opening Thursday.
Kelly Norman, executive director of the Education Foundation of Canyon Independent School District, left, accepts a $5,000 donation from First National Bank of Amarillo/Canyon during its grand opening Thursday.

During the grand opening, the bank also made a $5,000 donation to the Education Foundation of Canyon Independent School District to better support their mission.

"We support Canyon ISD as a non-profit by raising funds that we then give back through educator grants, and that includes classroom grants and professional development grants, as well as the grants that benefit the whole school," Kelly Norman, executive director of the Education Foundation of Canyon Independent School District said. "In addition, we also offer student leadership grants to help their organizations, as well as student scholarships, and that is what all our funds go back to, including this generous $5,000 donation that we received from First National Bank here today."

According to Norman, this grant is the beginning of what she hopes to be a longtime partnership, and she looks forward to the continuing establishment of First National Bank.

For more information about First National Bank, visit them online at https://www.fnbhereford.com/about/locations-hours.html or call their Amarillo/Canyon location by phone at (806) 350-6391.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: First National Bank expands locations to Amarillo/Canyon area