For nearly four years, Roseboro residents have known what it is like to live in a town without something many communities take for granted — a bank.
That is about to change.
KS Bank’s announcement that it plans to open a financial center in downtown Roseboro this November is more than another business opening its doors. It represents the return of a convenience that residents, farmers and business owners have gone years without, and it is the result of people who refused to accept that local banking was simply gone for good.
Now comes the community’s part — use it.
That may sound overly simple, but it carries a lesson that extends far beyond banking. We sometimes do not appreciate the amenities available in our communities until the lights go off, the doors close and we suddenly have to travel elsewhere for something that once was right down the street.
Roseboro learned that lesson when it lost two bank branches within roughly six months, in 2022 and 2023. Suddenly, something as routine as visiting a teller, making a deposit or sitting across from a banker required leaving town.
For younger customers accustomed to mobile banking, that inconvenience may not seem substantial. But a local bank remains important to many senior citizens, business owners, farmers and others who value — and sometimes need — face-to-face service. And it re-enforces the economic strength of a community.
That is why the effort to bring banking back deserves recognition.
Chip Crumpler and his family went as far as purchasing the former Truist building in 2024 with hopes of keeping it available for a bank. Mayor Alice Butler, local business leaders and others continued pushing for a financial institution to give Roseboro another look. KS Bank ultimately did.
A community asked for an amenity back, and someone listened, but opening the doors is only half of the equation.
Crumpler made an important point when he urged residents to support KS Bank with deposits, emphasizing that the bank needs continued community support to remain successful. Butler, likewise, encouraged residents and businesses to open accounts and demonstrate how much having a bank in Roseboro means to them. They are right.
It is easy to celebrate a ribbon-cutting. It is harder — and much more important — to support a business six months later, a year later and five years later.
The same principle applies throughout Sampson County. We want restaurants, grocery stores, pharmacies, recreational opportunities, shops and a local newspaper, as well as other conveniences in our communities, but those amenities cannot survive on goodwill alone. When reasonable opportunities exist to spend our dollars locally, doing so helps give those businesses a reason to remain.
That does not mean residents owe any business their patronage regardless of service, price or quality. Businesses must earn and maintain customers. But when a community says it needs something, and a business takes the financial risk of providing it, residents should at least give that business an opportunity to earn their support.
Roseboro has that opportunity now.
KS Bank is taking a chance on the town, but Roseboro also has an opportunity to make a statement — that Western Sampson County can support local banking and that investing in its communities is worthwhile.
For almost four years, residents could talk about how much they missed having a bank.
Come November, they will have a chance to show it.
Sometimes you do not realize how convenient something is until it is gone. Roseboro already knows what losing a bank feels like.
The best way to avoid learning that lesson twice is to support the one coming back