Testimonials
It was a dream for Greg and Mary Stewart to continue a family legacy in farming. When another bank turned them down, PeoplesBank gave them a chance.
As a child, Mary Stewart grew up watching her parents, Jim and Janet Archer of southern York County, build a great life and upbringing for their family. Jim worked as a dairy farmer and Janet was a school teacher.
When Mary grew up, she and her husband, Greg, knew that farming was the foundation they wanted to lay as their livelihood, and they soon started Fawn View Farm in Pylesville, Maryland.
“My husband and I started out with nothing on the asset side of a balance sheet,” Mary says, thinking back to their launch. “We had to carve out our own niche in the farming world, and that can be hard.”
In 2011, they reached out to a bank that marketed itself to new farmers. Greg was already well underway with his work as a seed dealer, as well as growing corn and soybeans. They needed to build a seed warehouse.
But that bank wouldn’t help them. They were told they didn’t have enough collateral.
“We were crushed,” Mary remembers. “We had this plan. We knew our cash flow was strong. This was a viable business.”
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The couple then connected with PeoplesBank. Not long after their first meeting, they found the support they needed to grow their business.
“We’ve got people around our table who have been great at guiding us,” Mary says. “We’ve been able to buy land and properties, able to refinance when we need to, get lines of credit when we needed it for seasonal flow of finances. It’s just brought us a peace of mind.”
Now, the Stewarts have their own thriving farm. They have five children between the ages of eight and two who get to live the same farm life their parents did growing up.
Greg also helps neighboring farms with custom work and direct sales. Mary is focused on the agri-tourism part of their business, where she hosts private events and farm tours, helps with direct sales and will soon launch an ice cream trailer.
Nearby, Mary helps her parents, now in their 70s, manage some of the work at their dairy farm. During the pandemic, she used their milk surplus to start a retail cheese line. She also wants to create more opportunities for the public to learn about farming.
“My heart is in educating people about where their food comes from,” she says. “I get to share a bit of my world and the things I love with others. That means everything.”
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Are you interested in learning more about how PeoplesBank can help your business? Talk to one of our Financial Mentors today via a video call and let us help you achieve your dreams and reach your goals.