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Originally from Carnesville, Georgia, Justin Pruitt first got into banking seven years ago as a Relationship Manager. He brings a strong background in leadership and operations to his team at Pinnacle.

At work, Justin enjoys making the interactions between customers and coworkers easy and fun! At home, he loves cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs, cooking and taking trips with his wife.

Thank you for serving Pinnacle Bank and our community, Justin!

Hailing from Stone Mountain, Georgia, home of the largest piece of granite in the world,  it only made sense that Jessica Baughman would come to Elberton, the Granite Capital of the World, to serve Pinnacle Bank as a Mortgage Banker!

She employs her bright, people-person personality in guiding customers through the mortgage process and helping her teammates do the same.

When she’s not lighting the path for future homeowners, she’s hiking, traveling and spending precious time with family.

Welcome to Pinnacle Bank, Jessica!

As a Winder local, Branch Manager Lisa Giles serves our team with her local touch and over 20 years of experience in banking.

With her love of spending time with family, Lisa fits right into our “hometown” culture, fostering an open, supportive workplace.

Pinnacle Bank is proud to have you, Lisa!

With her military background and 15 years in banking, Angie Hubble brings a love of consistent customer care and employee mentorship to her new role as Branch Manager of Augusta – Furys Ferry.

When she’s not helping Pinnacle Bank customers with financial planning, she’s spending time exploring new places with her husband,  children and grandchildren.

We’re proud to have you, Angie!

When starting your own business, there’s nothing more valuable than insight from those who’ve gone before you. And with 20% of small businesses failing in their first twelve months – there’s a great deal of data to glean.

On your journey to success and stability, these are three of the most common challenges for your fledgling business:

FINDING CUSTOMERS

Everyone from 133-year-old Nintendo to your day-old LLC can relate to this struggle. How do you find the people who want to buy your product? Who are they, and what need of theirs are you addressing with your business? 

Many first-year companies have not identified their ideal customer by creating what’s known as a “buyer persona.” This profile helps you tailor your message to a specific audience, targeting them with ads where they are likely to see them and in a way that speaks to their needs.

Before you start, figure out who you’re talking to and how they will most likely see your product (print, radio, television, online, etc.).

FINDING QUALITY LABOR

Every company wants to grow, but finding the right people comes with a cost for many. Drafting job descriptions and onboarding paperwork, conducting interviews, and training new hires all reduce your own productivity and administrative attention.

Throw in a protracted hiring process or bad hire, and you’ve now spent thousands of dollars of your own time that could have gone elsewhere. 

Much like the buyer persona, a great tool in alleviating the cost of hiring is writing “candidate personas.” Using these writeups on hiring platforms like LinkedIn, you provide defined responsibilities for prospects and your organization – reducing downtime during training and overall role redundancy.

FINANCIAL PLANNING

Unclogging cash flow can be the difference between success and failure. Solutions for almost all small business struggles are tied up with the necessary capital to address them. 

With our membership in their Preferred Lender Program, we can provide financing to small businesses when funding is unavailable on conventional terms. In these cases, the Small Business Administration (SBA) guarantees major portions of the loan on behalf of the business. They typically come with lower fixed, variable interest rates and longer repayment terms.

For an inside look at how Pinnacle partners with you via SBA loans, watch our customer testimonials here.

YOU’RE NOT ALONE

If you’re looking to start or strengthen a business, Pinnacle Bank is here to help. If you’d like to talk with us, reach out via customerservice@pinnaclebank.com or call 877.759.7939.

Bringing over nine years of experience in the industry to Pinnacle Bank, Buford-native Brandi Humphrey joins our team as a Branch Manager in Gainesville.

On top of her banking background, Brandi has five seasons under her belt coaching her daughter’s travel softball team – providing a proven team player perspective to her leadership.

Welcome to Pinnacle Bank, Brandi!

As a Colombia-borne banker, Lina Cook comes to Pinnacle Bank as an experienced mortgage banker who is also fluent in Spanish.

Living in Jefferson, Georgia, with her husband and family for almost 20 years, Lina holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance and an associate’s degree in computer science – making her a great guide for today’s technologically changing landscape.

Lina loves using her background and skills to help other families start their journeys by guiding them through the home-buying process.

Welcome to Pinnacle Bank, Lina!

Megan Ballew joins the #PinnacleBank Family as a Branch Manager, working from a debit card clerk to a seasoned banker over the course of 9 years in the industry.

Her greatest professional joy is leading a team to find the best services and solutions for those who trust Pinnacle Bank. When she’s not helping customers or coworkers, Megan is out with her family hunting, fishing, and riding motorcycles.

Pinnacle Bank is proud to have you, Megan!

Brooke Lowden joins the Pinnacle Bank team as a Mortgage Banker, bringing over a decade of experience in the banking industry along with her.

While she enjoys traveling, she’s a Georgia native, hailing from Homer – a small town about an hour from Pinnacle’s HQ in Elberton.

As a member of the North Georgia Board of Realtors, Brooke brings insight and local charm to helping first-time homebuyers on the hunt for their dream home.

Welcome to Pinnacle Bank, Brooke!

We’ve all known the feeling of purchasing something routine – a tank of gas, a cup of coffee, deli meat, diapers, you name it – and noticing the total is considerably higher than the week before. Usually, inflation invades our lives very subtly, slowly raising costs, but in the past year and a half, it’s been quite rapid and impossible to miss.

No one feels the sudden weight of inflation more than small business owners, operating with a vigilant eye on all expenses. Surviving the inflation surge can be difficult, so here are a few tips to help:

1. Cutting your overhead costs – The obvious answer. But what does it really entail? Finding more efficient ways to move goods, investing in software to help better track expenses, moving to a more budget-friendly workspace, and of course, reducing the number of your employees. This tip is all about minimizing extraneous costs while leaning into the proven, reliable aspects of your business.
2. Strengthen current connections – Depending on your industry, focusing on deepening your long-term, established customers could be a good way to offset inflation. By finding more ways to serve your current clientele, you can maximize business without overextending yourself by looking for new customers.
3. Call your local Pinnacle Bank – With the Fed set to hike interest rates again soon, there’s no better time than right now to stay ahead of inflation before it gets worse. As your community bank, Pinnacle Bank is here to help, whether it’s through resources like SBA Loans or just giving you a fresh perspective on your business. Contact us at 877-759-7939 or visit your local branch.

Inflation is best beaten with as much preemptive action as possible. Applying these tips will look different for every business, but we believe we can survive this together.