Community banks are the cornerstone of any close-knit community. That was the consensus at a general session that kicked off the recent Bank Summit conference in Framingham earlier last week.

Wolf & Co.’s Jerry Gagne moderated a panel that included small-town community bankers, a state representative, and a local businessman, who came together to discuss community banks’ many roles in the towns they serve, along with the challenges they face in the years ahead.

Massachusetts State Representative Carolyn Dykema kicked off the session by recalling a tale she heard at a recent senior citizens’ forum in one of her towns. An elderly woman had received a phone call from a man claiming to be her grandson. The caller claimed he was in Mexico and had gotten into trouble. He needed her to wire him some money, but it was important she not tell his parents, as he was not supposed to be in Mexico, Dykema said.

It was an intrepid community banker who spotted the scam and was able to stop the fraud attempt in its tracks, Dykema said.

It is local community banks, she added, who are making loans to small businesses, supporting philanthropic efforts in their hometowns, and generally acting as "friendly faces in an environment of online everything."

Paul Scully, president and chief executive officer of the Leicester-based Country Bank for Savings, shared a story from early in his days at the bank, when a young woman approached him at a local event to tell him that the bank’s scholarship had enabled her to go on to college and build a better life for herself and her family.

Jim Loer, the treasurer at Walpole Woodworkers, discussed the difference between dealing with a megabank and dealing with a community bank as a businessman. The former, he said, feels a little bit like trying to talk to the giants in The Wizard of Oz.

At a community bank, he said, you can get to know the executives approving your loan.

And the panel discussed the challenges ahead for community banks: chiefly, maintaining that small-town feel while adopting the newest digital offerings.

Scully said his bank has lately struggled with the question of whether it is a "big-little bank or a little-big bank," while maintaining its presence on Main Street.

And Janice Mazzallo, senior vice president of human resources at Holyoke-headquartered PeoplesBank, discussed her bank’s efforts to periodically reach out to their customers and gauge their satisfaction through surveys. She said the bank has also updated its core competencies for new hires, prioritizing a keen understanding of technology and social media.

To much agreement, Loer added, "You can’t lose sight of that personal touch."