One of the South’s fastest-growing financial institutions did not originate in a large, metropolitan area or grow with the usual bank business plan. Community Bancshares of Mississippi, Inc., started more than 100 years ago in a small timber community in east central Mississippi and has grown by employing a unique approach to one of America’s most routine industries. From 1995 until today, with few acquisitions, Community Bancshares has grown from $200 million in assets and a couple of offices to more than $2.4 billion in assets, 40 offices and over 660 employees in four states. Simple values like fairness, integrity, honesty, respect, humility, self-sacrifice, and kindness are all hallmarks of the type of organization Community Bank strives to build every day.