Glen White is chief executive officer of Mutual Federal Savings Bank (www.mutualfederal.com), a more than 100-year-old community bank with offices in Whitman, Halifax, Carver and Hanson.

As the banking industry in Massachusetts faces another round of mergers and acquisitions, it’s a natural time to question where the small, community bank fits into the picture.

Larger banks increasingly dominate the landscape. Some community bankers point to the emergence of these larger “faceless” entities and state that they will never take the place of the smaller banks; they assert that larger banks lack the ability to provide the personal service that the smaller banks offer.

That line of reasoning is valid only to a point. To be fair, the “big guys” deserve their due. There’s little question but that community banks do provide good, personal service. However, the industry giants are getting better at it, too. Using their extensive resources to borrow sales and service practices from star performers in other industries, they have put together formidable employee training and management programs. Their recent service track record is better than many had anticipated it would be.

And the notion that “there are only a few banks left, not enough choice” doesn’t really ring true, either. There are still plenty of banks! What is different, though, is the ratio of community banks vs. larger banks.

The smaller, community banks, whose numbers once were close to 15,000 nationally, now number between 8,000 and 9,000. In fact, a large number of these remaining community banks are situated in New England and the Northeast. That may be in part due to the way that towns were developed; here in New England, the geographic space is smaller than is the case in, say, the West, where there can be 50 or more miles between towns. Whether the impact of our mobile lifestyle will erode this regional difference remains to be seen.

Community bank executives face a number of challenges in helping to keep the banks they oversee viable. Is it reasonable to compare a community bank with a corner store, facing an increasing competition from the major supermarket chains? Only to a point. A more appropriate comparison might be between the community bank and the town hall.

The community bank is a pillar of the community that it serves, and that is its unmistakable advantage. The larger banks may reside within a community, but the community bank is an actual part of the fabric of the community. It’s an important difference.

Just as local government plays a key role in the community, so too does the community bank. On paper, it might not be as efficient as its regional, state or national counterparts, but in practice, it can do a better job of engaging the loyalty of the people it touches. The community bank can, in effect, make the customer feel “like the big fish in the small pond.”

The community bank occupies a unique position with the people it serves. The best community banks embrace that unique position, leverage it and grow with it. People are particular about their money. Depositing funds into an account isn’t the same as buying a hammer, where, in the consumer’s mind, at least, it may not matter whether it’s purchased from Home Depot or the corner hardware store. We believe that people on the community level want to know that the institution they entrust with their money will serve in a steward’s role. Where public trust is involved, the community bank acts as a neighbor and caretaker.

The community bank may also have a structural advantage over its larger counterpart. More of its executive-level banking positions are close to the street. With less bureaucracy, the community bank can respond more personally and more nimbly. Managed well, the result is better decisions and a more satisfied customer.

In sum, the real “value add” for a community bank is being more than an institution which occupies a certain square footage of real estate. The value is being a good neighbor and a central part of the town or city.

That said, the community bank needs to work very hard to achieve that level of community involvement. The community bank can leverage the hometown advantage by taking an active role to shape the community. This can be accomplished a number of ways, including community outreach programs. An example that always comes to my mind is the “Saving Makes Sense” program, sponsored in a number of towns by smaller banks around the state. I remember, as a boy growing up in Reading that our elementary school had a similar program, sponsored by Reading Savings. They encouraged students to save, even if it was a quarter a week, and the program culminated in a field trip to the bank and a chance to see money in a vault. I managed to save $18.95 for a baseball glove. By the end of the year I was a dollar short of the $19.95 price tag. The store kicked in the last buck and sold it to me anyway! I never forgot it. Corny? Maybe. But a bank that can form an emotional bond like that is likely to be a part of the community for a long time to come.

Community banks can’t expect to compete with big banks on every front. Savvy community bank management, I believe, understands who their customers are – from a geographic, demographic and psychographic point of view. Knowing our customer and keeping an unwavering focus on tailoring our services to that customer will go a long way toward building loyalty and success. The local weekly newspaper isn’t where you’d expect to see Microsoft advertising a new product launch. Instead, it’s where a hometown carpenter or delivery service might expect to achieve deliverable results. The same holds true for the community bank. It’s about identifying the right customers.

The community banks face other challenges as well, including a strong competitive threat from tax-exempt credit unions that, in this writer’s view, have expanded far beyond what was called for in their original charter.

I believe the community bank has an optimistic future, as long as bankers draw upon their strengths in this changing marketplace.

In a time when the world seems to go faster and faster, and where with the click of a keyboard we can communicate worldwide, the presence of an institution that has survived these changes and retained its identity can be a reassuring symbol to customers.

Understanding the role of the community bank and staying focused on the customer is key to continued success. It’s alright not to be the biggest. It’s enough to work to be the best.