The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development recognized Wayne County Bank as a Centennial Business for 100+ years of business in Tennessee on Thursday, October 10, 2024. TNECD representatives, Regional Director John Hatfield and Regional Business Development Specialist Greg Lowe, presented a certificate to Wayne County Bank President/CEO Martin Haggard, Jr., and members of Wayne County Bank’s Board of Directors were present for the recognition ceremony.
Wayne County Bank came into existence the year America entered WWI in 1914. The bank was located in a two-story masonry building on the southwest corner of the square in Waynesboro.
In 1971, a new bank building was completed in its new location, just off the square on Highway 64 West. That building was renovated in 1986 with a two-story addition, more than doubling the floor space. In 2007, a new main office building was built directly behind the existing one at the time. The newest building is expected to accommodate the bank well into the future.
The dream of a new branch of Wayne County Bank in Collinwood became a reality in 1975. After undergoing renovations in 1990 and 2012, a more expansive renovation is nearing completion now, adding updates and more square footage to the building.
The acquisition of First Federal Savings & Loan by Wayne County Bank resulted in the opening of the Court Square branch in 1991. In 1998, two more branches of the bank were opened in Wayne County: Wayne County Bank in Clifton, and a drive-through facility called 64 Express in Waynesboro.
Wayne County Bank opened its first branch outside the county in 2007, Citizens Bank of Lewis County in Hohenwald, TN. Wayne County Bank extended its branches to include Citizens Bank of Lawrence County in 2022 and Citizens Bank of Loretto in 2023.
Martin Haggard, Jr. has held the position of Wayne County Bank President since 2011, following in the footsteps of his late father, Martin L. Haggard, Sr., who was Bank President from 1986 to 1994; and his uncle, Larry Haggard, who was Bank President from 1994 to 2011.
Originally capitalized at $15,000 in 1914, which was a lot of money in those days, the bank had grown by December of 1916 to the point of having total assets of $42,881. As of September 2023, the bank’s total assets were $454,928,000.
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