Two hundred forty-eight years ago, our country’s founders declared America’s independence. Just 123 years later, when the United States was still a relatively new republic, our Hancock Whitney founders first opened our doors. Since that day almost 125 years ago, we’ve enjoyed the privilege of serving one of the country’s most vibrant economic and cultural landscapes, the greater Gulf South.
The visionaries who set forth the foundation of our Nation did so based on principles central to the rights and responsibilities of freedom. The visionaries who set forth the foundation of our company did so according to core values anchored in helping people and communities thrive in a democracy.
Nationally, our Hancock Whitney forbearers witnessed the dramatic effects of a late 19th-century American industrial revolution pushing our country toward greater prosperity. Regionally, they saw a central Gulf Coast boom creating the need for a strong, solid bank to help local people, growing communities, new towns, and expanding cities succeed.
Today, the Gulf Coast corridor we serve shines with a diverse economy and culture that draw new business, industry, and residents to the region every day.
This year, as we hail America’s 248th birthday and look toward our 125th birthday in October, we at Hancock Whitney also celebrate people and places across the five states forming the Gulf of Mexico crescent. Because of their confidence in us as a trusted financial and community partner for the past one-and-a-quarter century, we’ve been able to grow and succeed together.
Colors of Courage
As we brighten our Fourth of July festivities with red, white, and blue, we should also consider what those colors represent. To be sure, they’re the palette of our American patriotism and pride. They’re the color scheme of our Stars and Stripes: red for hardiness and valor; white for purity and innocence; blue for vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
Those colors symbolize great sacrifice, too.
To gain and keep the liberties we enjoy now — the opportunities to live, choose, and do business freely — generations of people have served, fought, and died to defend our colors. We must always recognize the cost of our independence and remember and thank those brave individuals and their families for their steadfast resolve to keep our Red, White, and Blue resilient and radiant.
Achieving Dreams
This Fourth of July, Hancock Whitney salutes the farsighted people who dreamed of and created a new democracy in 1776. We honor those whose courage has kept the realization of the founders’ dream — our United States of America — strong and safe. We pay homage to the business and community leaders who dreamed of and created a new bank in the late 1800s, a bank built to serve and last as today’s Hancock Whitney. We thank clients and communities who allow us to help them achieve their dreams.
We also thank our 3,600 associates who help make dreams real for the people who depend on them. They carry on the timeless ideals at the center of our Hancock Whitney heart and soul. Those core values guide us in nurturing invaluable relationships that become part of our collective heart and soul as one of America’s strongest, safest banks and in helping strengthen the heart and soul of the American hometowns we serve.
From our Hancock Whitney family to you and all those important to you, we wish you a safe, happy July 4th holiday.