Happy New Year and Welcome 2021!

January 1, 2021
Who is looking forward to a new year and a fresh start? The year 2020 presented you, the communities we live in, and the BCT team with many unforeseen challenges to our daily lives. Tragically, for some, the loss of loved ones brought you great sadness, for whom we offer our sincerest condolences. For those who are weary from keeping businesses open and family budgets afloat, we offer our encouragement and empathy. Hopefully, the many lessons we have learned will result in

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greater successes and wonderful opportunities!

Our BCT team has been reminded what it means to be community bankers who support our communities in numerous ways beyond mere financial transactions.  Moreover, I could not be more proud of how the BCT team rose to the occasion time and again by innovating new ways of meeting your needs safely in the midst of pandemic challenges.  Our team will use what we have learned to continue to innovate ways to better meet your needs in the future.

In addition to a fresh start, 2021 also marks an exciting milestone for BCT, our 150th anniversary!  Early in our existence, Samuel Walter Washington, then President of BCT, was faced with similar circumstances as today.  In 1918 the country was dealing with the Spanish Flu pandemic.  Schools were closed and communities were shut down, but banking business continued.  Then, just as today, BCT focused on providing the best service possible to its customers.  As I reflect upon the leadership of my predecessor Presidents of Bank of Charles Town, I greatly appreciate the care they and the Board of Directors took to ensure our community has a locally owned bank that is resilient and endures in both good and challenging times.   

Plans for celebrating our 150th anniversary will include many opportunities for you to join us in honoring the heritage of BCT that began on April 4, 1871.  A local historian researched many newspapers and other records to provide a look back at our story over the past 150 years.  We will consolidate his account of our story and make it available.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and hope you will, too.   

As we sing Auld Lang Syne to 2020, there is one word within that poem I hope will remain a large part of who we are as people, a community, and a community bank – kindness.  In 2020, we witnessed our customers and communities demonstrate kindness to our healthcare heroes, our small businesses, our neighbors in need, and much more.   Going forward, whether facing exceptional challenges or the mundane, I believe life will be better when we treat each other with compassion, understanding, and generosity of spirit – kindness.

I sincerely thank you for choosing BCT to be your financial partner.  Onward to 2021!

Alice-signature_small

Alice

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About the Company

Founded in 1871, BCT - Bank of Charles Town, also known as The Community's Bank, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Potomac Bancshares, Inc. (OTC:PTBS). With approximately $831 million in assets as of December 31, 2023, the Company conducts operations through its main office, an additional eight branch offices, and two loan production offices.  BCT’s offices are located in Jefferson and Berkeley Counties (WV), Washington County (MD), and Loudoun and Stafford Counties (VA). The Bank provides various banking products and services including free access to over 55,000 ATMs through the Allpoint® network plus an affiliation with Sheetz convenience stores.  The Bank provides convenient online and mobile banking for individuals, businesses, and local governments. The Bank also offers commercial lines and term loans, residential and commercial construction loans, commercial real estate loans, agricultural loans, and government contractor loans.  The Bank is also a Small Business Administration (SBA) Preferred Lender.  The Residential Lending division offers secondary market and portfolio mortgage loans, one-time close construction to perm loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit.  For over 70 years, BCT Wealth Advisors has provided trust services, growing into a premier financial management, investments, and estate services provider.  In 2023, American Banker selected BCT as a “Top 200 Community Bank,” an annual listing of the best performing banks in the United States with assets under $2 billion.  BCT was voted a “Best of the Best” winner in the 2023 Journal-News Readers’ Choice Awards in four  categories:  Bank, Mortgage Company, Loan Services, and Financial Planning.  In 2023, 2021, 2020, and 2019 the Bank was named a “Best Bank To Work For” by American Banker.

The Company's shares are quoted on the OTC Pink Sheet marketplace under the symbol "PTBS." For more information about Potomac Bancshares, Inc., and the Bank, please visit our website at www.mybct.bank.