At Alpine Bank’s ribbon-cutting ceremony in 1973, Bob Young, chairman and founder, decorated the ribbon with 50 silver dollars. After the ceremony, he donated those coins to Sopris Park in Carbondale, Colorado. It was a harbinger of the community bank’s deep commitment to philanthropy.
“That was the first act of the bank, a charitable contribution and engagement with the community,” says Glen Jammaron, who has served as president for 18 of his 40 years at the Glenwood Springs, Colorado-based bank, which now has $6.7 billion in assets. “I think most of us who have been here a long time are still here because of Bob’s belief that if we make our community a better place to live, then the bank does well.”
Giving back is embedded in the culture
The spirit of philanthropy established by Young’s first act remains a cornerstone of Alpine Bank’s culture. In 2006, the community bank began offering 24 hours of paid volunteer time each year to empower employees to give back. Since then, Alpine employees have embraced the opportunity by mentoring students, organizing food drives and supporting local nonprofits, among other initiatives.
In 2024, the community bank launched its “24 in ’24” campaign, which encouraged every employee to dedicate at least 24 hours to volunteering with community organizations in 2024. While Alpine Bank has long offered 24 hours of paid time off for volunteer work, the campaign aimed to highlight this benefit and encourage more employees to participate.
The results exceeded the campaign leaders’ expectations. Alpine Bank’s 866 employees logged a total of 22,850 volunteer hours, surpassing the original goal of 21,600 hours. This equates to an average of nearly 26 hours per employee, benefiting organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, local search-and-rescue teams and area nonprofits supporting education and the arts.
“I can tell you that our people are actually spending a lot more time in their communities than that,” says Jammaron. “That is just what we reported as part of the 24 in ’24 program.”
The program allows employees to earn an hour of paid time off for every hour they volunteer, whether during bank hours or on their own time. In 2024, 7,530 hours were logged during business hours, with the remaining 15,320 hours completed outside of work.
Employee-driven giving
Alpine Bank’s commitment to personalized philanthropy ensures that employees can support causes they are truly passionate about, whether through group efforts or individual endeavors.
“One of the things that has been important for me is that folks are engaged in things that they really care about,” says Jammaron. “I don’t want to send somebody to do the river clean-up project, for example, if they have no interest in that.”
This philosophy also extends to Alpine Bank’s charitable giving. For example, to celebrate the bank’s 50th anniversary in 2023, each employee received $500 to donate to a charity of their choice.
In 2024 alone, Alpine Bank donated $6 million to good causes. “As far as the dollars we give away to community causes, we don’t make that decision here from the corporate office,” Jammaron says. “That gets decided at the locations where folks are working, so that they can actually put some dollars behind those things they’re passionate about and volunteering with.”
Customer satisfaction increases, too
Jammaron explains that while Alpine Bank doesn’t typically promote its charitable and volunteer efforts in its advertising, the results speak for themselves. The bank’s net promoter score—a widely used metric that measures customer satisfaction and loyalty—is off the charts.
“The average net promoter score for banks is about 35,” he says. “Last year, we [scored a 72].”
For other community banks looking to deepen their community involvement, Jammaron emphasizes the importance of engaging employees at every level. Community involvement works best when it goes beyond the activities of bank leadership.
“I think what’s different here is that we’ve formalized some of those things, such as how many hours we’ll pay employees to volunteer,” Jammaron says. “And our efforts don’t just involve the officers of the bank or the president. It’s everybody—everybody understands and believes it’s an important thing to do and is a part of it.”
