Clemmons branch to hold open house on May 16

The Clemmons branch of Piedmont Federal Savings Bank will hold an open house on Tuesday, May 16, from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. to help celebrate the bank’s 120th birthday.
Founded in downtown Winston-Salem in 1903, the bank has been a steady presence in downtown Winston-Salem. It officially celebrated its 120th birthday on April 21 and will hold several special events in the coming weeks to help commemorate the occasion.
The Clemmons branch, which opened on August 16, 1982, has provided this community with a steady presence for more than 40 years.
That’s part of the message that David Hanein, the branch manager in Clemmons and assistant vice president, hopes to convey to the community at the open house.
“Everyone is welcome,” Hanein said. “We want to make everyone aware of Piedmont and what we have to offer and familiarize everyone with the great team we have assembled here. Piedmont used to be known as mainly a mortgage bank and we want to spread awareness of everything we are able to do. We want to celebrate the community and the role that Piedmont has here.”
Ginger Salt, the chief marketing officer at Piedmont, said that they plan on celebrating the bank throughout the year.
“We think being 120 years old is pretty awesome,” Salt said. “We plan on celebrating all year long. We’ve got lots of fun things going on — trivia contests with teammates with prizes, lots of 120-year bling. We want our clients and potential clients to know about the great team we have here in Clemmons. We want them to know that Piedmont Federal is the only bank founded in Winston-Salem that is still around. We’ve weathered the Great Depression, recessions, economic downturns, world wars, a global pandemic and we never lost a penny of our depositors’ money. We are stable and always have been.”
What started as a savings and home loans bank has since developed into a full-service financial institution.”
Hanein has been with Piedmont Federal since September 2021. He said that several factors attracted him to the role, but that the location in Clemmons was one of the most appealing.
“Ever since I got here, Clemmons has welcomed me with open arms,” Hanein said. “I made it a priority to get involved here and meet our customers. I worked the lobby; I worked a teller window so I could start building those relationships. Clemmons, being a small town, word gets out quickly. It’s very important to know who your customers are so you can wow them.”
Hanein also mentioned the bank’s customer Bill of Rights as a draw and has enjoyed being the beneficiary of some old-fashioned Clemmons hospitality.
“Not long after I got here, a woman came in just to look around and take time to see what we offered,” Hanein said. “I’m not sure that she even knew we were a bank. And she ended up opening a CD, has brought some of her family members in who own some businesses around town and are now also clients.”
On one particular day around Easter, this client Hanein reference brought him freshly baked bread and some Easter eggs.
“She has also brought in some stuffed tomatoes and rice for us,” Hanein said. “I guess that’s one of our clients that I was able to ‘wow.’ That’s one of the great things about this community. I’m not sure you get that kind of hospitality anywhere else. I haven’t before and I’ve been in banking for 11 years now.”
Salt, who has been with Piedmont for 9 ½ years, said that the Clemmons branch is vital to the overall success of the bank.
“It’s a solid location and we just love Clemmons,” Salt said. “We are active with the Lewisville-Clemmons Chamber of Commerce. This branch really embraces how we approach community. It’s just special. We love doing a lot of our business face-to-face, which is very important here. Especially after we went so long not being able to see people in person. It’s just good to be able to do that again. We have digital banking, and you can certainly do that if you want to, but we love to be able to build those relationships and really helping them. And we don’t have any barriers to that anymore. We can do what is right for our clients directly and we do a great job of that here.”
The open house will have food provided by Hawgfish in the lobby as well as other refreshments.
Hanein and his team are excited about the celebration.
“We just want to give more people the chance to get to know us,” he said. “It’s a great community to be in. We look forward to continuing to support Clemmons as we continue to grow.”