When you think about Marengo County on a national or a global scale, we seem small by comparison.

Demopolis pales in comparison to the Atlantas, the New Yorks or the Chicagos of the world in almost every way imaginable.

We don’t have the population, the “things to do”, the major highways and other whatnots that are creature comforts in the grand scheme of things.

We live without most of those things.

In most cases, we enjoy the fact that we can travel to places that have that stuff and then leave.

We get to come back to our sleepy little community and get away from all the problems big cities have to deal with.

However, it doesn’t mean Marengo County doesn’t have things to offer the world. Some of the best and brightest live, work and play right here.

Take banking for example.

How many national headlines have you read the past 24 month regarding banks? Several have gone under. Others needed money from the federal government to stay afloat. Some sold out to avoid defaulting.

Financial institutions across the nation were mired in problems, and some still are.

That’s far from the case here.

Sweet Water State Bank was rated with Five Stars a few weeks ago, as was Robertson Bank.

This week Robertson Bank was identified as number 17 among the nation’s top 200 community banks.

Last week Naheola Credit Union was awarded the League of Southeastern Credit Union’s Credit Union of the Year for 2010.

Those institutions stand out among crowded fields.

BankTrust and First Bank of Linden also shine among stable community banks.

It would be hard to argue that a Community Financial Convention would find a day full of quality guest speakers in Al Garrett, Stratton Lewis, Olen Kerby, Mark Johnson, Charles Singleton, Ann Yelverton and others.

Those men and woman have been charged with leading their depositories through some extraordinarily tough times and have thrived where many others have failed.

Jason Cannon is the publisher of The Demopolis Times.