Welcome to Courtland, Kansas

Aug 7

Courtland, Kansas (pop. 271) is our featured rural community this week! Today's guest blog post is from Tanner Johnson, Courtland native and President & CEO of Swedish-American State Bank. We'll be sharing stories throughout the week from local leaders and business owners who are making an impact here.

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Courtland is a town with just under 300 residents situated in North Central Kansas. I grew up riding my bike all over town, graduated from high school, and then left to attend college at Oklahoma University. Eighteen years later I returned with my family to raise our kids and take over operations at the Swedish-American State Bank.

Courtland stands out from other communities our size in a few ways. Our Main Street is full of small businesses, the school is maintaining its class sizes, and the median age of our residents is getting younger. Courtland has always been a little different than other rural communities. Growing up I remember people from surrounding towns talk about how Courtland sticks together and gets things done.

Part of the cultural fabric of Courtland is coming together to create success. Whether that is making updates to the baseball field, raising money for Arts Camp, beautifying the town with flowers and gardens, creating murals, or updating sidewalks, we don’t compete with each other. We support each other’s projects, knowing that successful projects breed successful projects.

As a fourth-generation community banker, and a member of the ICBA’s federal delegate board, I have had the opportunity to travel the country visiting with other community bankers. One question I often receive is, how can a single unit bank in a community with fewer than 300 people be viable? The answer for me is the culture we have created in our community. We support each other’s businesses, we support each other’s families, and we support our shared community.

We’re proud to have Rural Revival sharing our story, after all Courtland is in the rural revival business. I think you’ll enjoy learning a little about what makes us unique and hope it will inspire a few of you to come and provide your support to all the cool things happening here in Courtland, Kansas.