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Thirty years ago, a group of people had a vision for what banking could be in the Midlands of South Carolina. They believed the region needed a financial partner who took the time to discuss dreams and match names with faces. A bank that was built to serve the local community and neighborhoods. Where everyone cared deeply about customer service and doing right by others wasn’t a bygone concept. A place where the small moments mattered as much as the major milestones. 

If you know anything about First Community Bank, you know they were more than right. But almost from the get-go Mike Crapps, First Community Bank co-founder and founding president and CEO, recalls the bank stood apart from the status quo. “When we had the grand opening, there were people standing in line to get in. I mean, out the door and wrapped around the building,” shares Mike. “I thought to myself ‘Wow. There’s something going on here that’s not normal.’ People just don’t come to bank grand openings and stand in line to get in!”

First Community’s founders made the commitment to become the premier community bank of the Midlands. What they didn’t know then was that years of hard work and determination would deliver that and a great deal more.

The bank has grown beyond the Midlands into the Upstate, CSRA, and Piedmont Regions, and into the neighboring state of Georgia. Through considered planning, bank acquisitions in Newberry, Greenville and other areas, along with service acquisitions like EAH Financial and Palmetto South Mortgage have added customers, improved customer service and elevated operations for the entire organization.

Being a purpose-driven bank that does things the right way is a bedrock of First Community today and has been for the past 30 years. As we mark this incredible milestone, we’re most proud that our longstanding values are evident every day — in banking offices and boardrooms, across desks, on computer screens, and over smartphones. “It’s in interactions with customers and employees. That’s where it all happens,” says Ted Nissen, president and CEO of First Community Bank.

For three decades we’ve been the team ensuring support and opportunity in our communities. And that’s one thing we’ll never change.