Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madame Speaker, I rise today to recognize and commend a company that has made Columbus, GA, the Second Congressional District of Georgia and the United States proud. Synovus, a diversified financial services holding company based in Columbus, GA, recently was named by Forbes magazine to their Platinum 400 List of America’s Best Big Companies.
To create the list, Forbes looked at more than 1,000 publicly traded companies with at least $1 billion in revenue, and chose 400 based on metrics, earnings forecasts, corporate governance ratings, and other public company information. Of course, Forbes selected these companies not just for their financial performance, but also for their leadership, innovation, and execution.
The story of Synovus epitomizes the American spirit, exemplifying the kindness, innovation and enterprising character that has come to define this country. In the 1880s, a mill worker at Eagle and Phenix Mill in Columbus caught her dress in a piece of machinery. As her dress tore, her life savings, which she had sewn into her hem thinking it was the safest place for her money, spilled across the floor.
G. Gunby Jordan, the mill’s secretary and treasurer, happened by and offered to keep her money in the mill safe and pay her monthly interest on the deposits. He soon offered the same service to all the mill workers, a system which years later, inspired Mr. Gunby to establish the institution that became Columbus Bank and Trust Company – Synovus’ lead bank.
More than a century has passed since that torn dress, and like the act that founded Synovus, the company has continued to operate on the principles of integrity, character, treating people right and doing the right thing.
And it has served the company in good stead: Today, Synovus is one of the largest and strongest financial institutions in the Southeast, with 39 banks and $31 billion in assets.
Indeed, I am proud to have this company in my district. Please join me in congratulating Synovus and its 14,000 employees on receiving this award.