American National Bank of Texas will celebrate the opening of its new loan production office in South Dallas this November. As Dallas Innovates reported, this is part of the bank’s continued efforts to bring opportunities and investment to Southern Dallas County.

But to truly understand this move, it helps to know how ANBTX started. ANBTX was founded in 1875 and was built on going where the need was the greatest.  

Marcelo D. Mills

“We were founded in Terrell, when the town was experiencing rapid growth due to a new train depot being built,” said Marcelo Mills, ANBTX’s emerging markets president. “At the time, Terrell didn’t have any financial institutions to serve the needs of its community. All the money being made was sent back to Dallas and used for loans that supported growth there, which feels very similar to the dynamic we are experiencing in South Dallas today where community members don’t have convenient access to banks in their community the way other parts of the metroplex do.”

ANBTX in 1920 [Courtesy photo]

Robert Husley, CEO and great-grandson of one of the bank’s founders, says that’s where a community bank can help. By making long-term investments, rather than expecting a return right away, people have time to turn a profit. They doubled down on this philosophy in the first half of the 1900s, when the great depression threatened to derail early entrepreneurs and the local economy.

Robert Hulsey, ANBTX CEO

“In 1932, local farmers were starting to feel the tightening of a down economy. My great-grandfather and grandfather sat down and talked to each and every one of them and said, ‘You’ve got this big note and don’t know how to pay it. I’m going to loan you the money to put in this year’s crops and as soon as you sell it — and pull out the money that you need to live off — you pay me back.”

He remembers as a young boy, people stopping him to thank him for what his great-grandfather and grandfather did.

“We couldn’t do exactly that in today’s regulatory environment, but I do think an element of that has been passed down. Good, strong community banks work with their customers. They’re not so quick to say ‘You’re outta here.’”

More recently, ANBTX made more than 4,000 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans during the pandemic — the majority of which went to minority business owners.

“I had been visiting with Harrison Blair, CEO of the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce, and he mentioned the problems many of his members were having with the applications and getting through the system,” said Husley.

“The fact is, South Dallas is an underserved market, and when needs arise, we meet challenges head-on. That’s why we’re here,” said Mills.

The new location will open with six existing employees, relocated from other branches, and will look to add four more people in the near future. These jobs will primarily be commercial and mortgage lenders.

“And we’re definitely looking to hire more people from the community,” says Mills.

Voices contributor Nicole Ward is a data journalist for the Dallas Regional Chamber.

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