As of 2024, United Bank in Atmore, Ala., has worked with Slay’s Nursery in nearby Elberta, Ala., for two decades, having helped its owners launch and grow their nursery and gardening store.
The $1.2 billion-asset community bank established its relationship with Slay’s Nursery in 2004 when the owners, Theresa and Richard Slay, were looking to expand their wholesale business with the addition of a retail nursery. Rachel Holland, senior vice president of agricultural lending at United Bank, was the Slays’ loan officer.
“They’re in the nursery business; they’re a wholesaler,” Holland said. “They sell to farmers markets along the southern part of Alabama and into Mississippi as well. They primarily specialize in flowers, plants [and] ferns. They started out smaller and were able to grow and be successful today.”
The community bank’s longstanding relationship with Slay’s Nursery reflects United Bank’s agricultural roots, which date back to the bank’s inception in 1904.
“Agriculture is a big part of what we do. Our first loan was an ag loan, so it’s one of our missions to grow the agriculture community,” said Holland, “and we consider horticulture and the nursery in the ag sector. We try to provide resources and funding to help the farmers and the nursery owners to grow their businesses.”
United Bank’s relationship with the Slays also allows the bank’s work as a community development financial institution to shine through. “Our mission really is [to support] underserved rural areas [and try] to bring economic activity and viability to areas, no matter what that looks like,” said Leigh Anne Jones, United Bank’s chief financial officer. “I think the nursery business is a good example of that.”
