Treva Branscum

Longtime banker honored as Greenbrier Citizen of the Year

Treva Branscum, whose family moved to Greenbrier when she was 2 years old, was named Citizen of the Year by the Greenbrier Area Chamber of Commerce. Branscum and her husband, Robert, live in nearby Bono now, but she is active in the Greenbrier community, including serving on the Brierfest Committee for the upcoming festival.
Treva Branscum, whose family moved to Greenbrier when she was 2 years old, was named Citizen of the Year by the Greenbrier Area Chamber of Commerce. Branscum and her husband, Robert, live in nearby Bono now, but she is active in the Greenbrier community, including serving on the Brierfest Committee for the upcoming festival.

Terry Milam jokingly said he and other co-workers have been bowing to Treva Branscum since she was named Greenbrier Citizen of the Year earlier this month.

Branscum is vice president of operations at HomeBank of Arkansas, where she’s worked for almost 16 years since Milam, executive vice president, and others got the charter to start the bank.

Branscum, who turned 54 on Feb. 6, received her honor March 3 at the Greenbrier Area Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet.

“I knew I had been nominated because I saw the ballots,” she said. Branscum said the other nominees were “very community-minded and participate in everything, too. So it was still exciting and an honor.”

Audreya Cole Brown, president of the Greenbrier Area Chamber of Commerce, said Branscum is “a staple at community events and is always there to lend a helping hand. Her willingness to serve Greenbrier in any way she is needed makes her the perfect person to receive the chamber’s Citizen of the Year Award.”

It’s almost like Branscum is a one-woman ambassador for the city, anyway. In her mind, Greenbrier is almost perfect.

She and her husband, Robert, have been married 30 years. They lived in Greenbrier for 20 years and now live in nearby Bono.

She remembers the city of Greenbrier when the four-lane highway through town was a two-lane, tree-lined road, and the paved road to Woolly

Hollow State Park was just dirt.

“I remember going as a child on what seemed like 50 miles of dirt road with your windows rolled up, and you got to the lake and couldn’t wait to jump in,” she said, laughing.

When she graduated from Greenbrier High School, she worked for a while at the former Tiffany Furniture Co. in Conway, but she had a specific goal.

“I always wanted to be in banking,” Branscum said. A woman in banking with whom Branscum went to church, Kay Reynolds, inspired her.

Branscum got an entry-level

job at the former First State Bank in Conway.

“I got in bookkeeping, filing checks that you never get to see anymore,” she said. From there, she was promoted to other positions, including teller.

“It gradually snowballed from there,” she said.

Her first supervisor, Mitzi Reynolds of Conway, remembers Branscum as a “hard-worker, always friendly, always smiling. She never complained to me. If you asked her to do something that wasn’t necessarily in her job description, she understood ‘other duties as assigned.’” Reynolds said Branscum’s honor is “well-deserved; she’s a good lady.”

Branscum said the customers are her favorite part of the job.

“I like the people. There’s not been anything I didn’t like. Something I don’t like dealing with is fraud and regulations,” she said.

Although she was living in Greenbrier the whole time, she stayed at First State through five mergers, then left to join HomeBank when a group got together, including Milam, to start the Greenbrier branch. It was previously the Peoples Bank of Portland in south Arkansas, which started in 1908. The bank was bought by Peoples Home Holdings in 2001, and the name was changed to HomeBank of Arkansas.

Branscum has ridden the roller coaster of banking, and she’s seen the industry change.

“Everything’s so digital and real time,” she said.

Branscum, who is a member of the Greenbrier School District’s Career and Technology Education Committee, speaks to classes a couple of times a semester.

The students are more

interested in asking about bank robberies (a branch she oversees — Portland in Ashley County — was robbed once) or seeing the counterfeit money she brings than the day-to-day nitty-gritty details of banking, but she talks to them about the changes.

Transactions happen almost immediately, she said. Someone can buy groceries and get a text as he’s leaving.

She explains to them that a few years ago, “you could go to California and visit and write a check and be home a week before the check cleared. Now, it clears before you get on the plane to come home,” she said.

HomeBank is one of the smaller Faulkner County banks in terms of assets, she said, so “we like to customize things,” she said. “We’re still the old community-bank

feeling.”

She oversees data processing for the bank, as well as the five branch managers.

“I don’t make loans; that’s about all I don’t do,” she said.

She said security is a priority these days. “There’s so much with that, trying to make sure we can’t be hacked and protect customers,” she said.

Branscum has always been involved in the community. When there was a Jaycees chapter, Branscum was involved. She has been part of the Greenbrier school alumni chapter and started participating with the chamber 20 years ago.

She has been on the chamber board two or three times. “They’ll call, ‘Hey, so-and-so has had to resign — would you come back and fill out their term?’”

Branscum said she used to enjoy attending Brierfest, a festival sponsored by the chamber and city that hasn’t been held for at least 15 years, she said.

It’s being brought back, and she is on the festival committee. “I’m excited to see what the new Brierfest will bring,” she said. “They’ve got some big plans.”

It’s scheduled for April 21-23 with music, including The Kentucky Headhunters, ball tournaments, carnival rides and more.

“The bank is very good about letting me off to participate,” she said of her volunteer activities.

“The businesses are very nice. I love Conway, but I don’t leave Greenbrier very much,” she said. Branscum said the city has “cute little shops” and big-box stores. I’d like to see a little more shopping,” she said.

She praised the school district for providing quality education.

“I think we’re cutting edge,” Branscum said. “We have just a very good reputation.”

A new city park is being discussed, which she’s excited about.

“I like seeing Greenbrier do well,” she said.

“I like being able, when I go to the grocery store, to see people I know,” she said. Branscum also said she enjoys seeing her friends at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church.

And she isn’t afraid to admit that she really doesn’t have big goals or a bucket list.

“I would like to work at least 15 more years in banking,” she said. “I’m pretty content.”

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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