12/17/2009 Kosman, Chairman, CEO & President of Platte Valley Companies and Platte Valley Bank-Scottsbluff, NE, and a conservationist and civic leader is Lincoln, NE Downtown Rotary's "Nebraskan of the Year". Henry H. "Hod" Kosman, who has a long history of support for education, the arts, wildlife conservation and quality health care, is the 23rd recipient of the annual award. He will be honored at a luncheon at Lincoln Embassy Suites on Feb. 9, 2010. Kosman serves on the Scotts Bluff County Scholdarship Committee, which provides funds for students to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing's West Nebraska Division. He has served as chair of the Panhandle Center for Lifelong Learning and as a member of the board of advisors for the Eppley Cancer Center in Omaha. He has been a trustee of the University of Nebraska Foundation since 1989. Other organizations Kosman has actively supported include the West Nebraska Arts Center, the Nebraska State Art Collection, the Panhandle Humane Society, the Oregon Trail Community Foundation, the Scottsbluff Rotary Club, the Nebraska Arts Council, the YMCA, Regional West Health Services, the Nebraska Information Technology Commission, the Scottsbluff-Gering Chamber of Commerce and the Chadron State College Foundation. He served for six years as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank in Omaha. Kosman has a particularly strong interest in conservation and wildlife. He has been a director and treasurer of the Nebraska Chaper of the Nature Conservancy. He received the 2008 Field & Stream Hero of Conservation Award as a Founder of Platte River Basin Environments, Inc., which protects and provides free public access to over 30,000 acres of wild and scenic lands for hiking, bird watching, photography, hunting and fishing, and other outdoor activities. He is the president and CEO of the Platte Valley Bank and the Platte Valley Financial Service Companies, Inc. The Kosman family has been in the banking business for 100 years. Hod and his wife, Willa, have two adult children and two grandchildren. The Nebraskan of the Year Award honors individuals who exhibit honesty, integrity and concern for others, service in charitable and civic causes, and leadership in professional and volunteer activities. Honorees need not be Rotarians and may be nominated by any Nebraska Rotary Club.

11/1/2009 Platte Valley Bank was chosen for the 4th time (Oct. '03, Oct. '05, Oct. '07, and Oct. '09) as the Star-Herald's Readers Choice Award as the "#1 FAVORITE BANK." As for the "#1 Favorite Teller", Peggy Hessler, who is Platte Valley Bank's Assistant Cashier & Teller Operations Coordinator for NE & WY, was the recipient of the 2009 Reader's Choice Award, as she was in '07. Peggy, it's a special honor to be chosen by your customers and friends. Congratulations... from all of us at Platte Valley Companies. "Thank You" also to all of our customers and friends who voted for Platte Valley Bank!"

9/1/2008 Hod Kosman was tapped as the winner at the banquet held in New York City at the American Museum of Natural History on September 25th. As the winner... Hod received a new Toyota Tundra Pickup from Toyota. Plus, all seven honorees received $5,000.00, to use towards projects they are working on relating to conservation.

4/2/2008 The PV Mortgage Company, formerly Platte Valley National Mortgage Company and a Platte Valley Company, was recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development for being the 3rd top Nebraska lenders in Fiscal year 2007 for Rural Development’s guaranteed rural housing (GRH) loan program. PV Mortgage Co., a Platte Valley Company, provided $2.4 million, which fostered rural homeownership in the state. PV Mortgage Company has been in the top five lenders for seven of the eight years receiving this award. Per the Nebraska Bankers Association Newsletter dated March 2008… top ten Lenders for Fiscal Year 2007 for their guaranteed rural housing (GRH) loan programs were: Charter West National Bank - $3.2 million First National Bank of Columbus - $2.8 million Platte Valley National Mortgage - $2.4 million Cornerstone Bank - $2.3 million Security First - $2.2 million Pinnacle Bank - $2.2 million Professional Mortgage Services - $1.8 million Midwest Bank - $1.6 million Sidney Federal Savings - $1.5 million First National Bank of North Platte - $1.3 million The following banks are recognized for their GRH loan activity in excess of $1 million: Bank First, Valley Bank and Cass County Bank. Kim Reif, Rural Development Specialist in Scottsbluff, NE congratulated the hard working associates of PV Mortgage Company in Scottsbluff, NE.

5/3/2007 At the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel in Lincoln on Thursday, May 3, 2006 Don Roth, Executive Vice President of Platte Valley Bank-NEBRASKA accepted the 2007 NBA PEP (Personal Economics Program) Silver Star Award during the Opening Ceremony of the NBA Annual Convention. This award is for providing economic education to the schools in the Scottsbluff-Gering Communities and for its community involvement. Platte Valley Bank has received this award for three years in a row.

4/21/2007 Platte Valley Companies was honored by the State of Nebraska Business & Professional Women's organization at its 89th State Conference in Omaha, NE on April 21, 2007. Accepting the award for Hod Kosman, Chairman, CEO & President, was Jacque Neu, Senior Vice President and Corporate Director of Marketing at Platte Valley Companies. "This is a real honor to accept the award for Hod, who is out of the country on vacation and visiting his son in Australia, along with his wife, Willa," said Neu." She went on to tell about the Kosman Banking Family history... that Platte Valley Companies just celebrated its 10th Anniversary in 2006, but the Kosman Banking history goes back to 1909, when Hod's uncle and his grandfather organized, applied for and were granted a National Charter, and on November 9, 1909 opened Scottsbluff National Bank in Scottsbluff, NE.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) Rural Development recognized PV Mortgage Company, Scottsbluff, NE, a subsidiary of Platte Valley Companies, as being the fourth top lender in the State of Nebraska, which fostered rural homeownership in 2009. PV Mortgage Company has been in the top five lenders for eight of the nine years receiving this award. PV Mortgage Company provided 67 loans totaling $5.9 million in Western Nebraska. "We are pleased to be the leader in Western Nebraska, one of the top five for the State of Nebraska, and part of this great lending program assisting rural Nebraska householders to achieve ownership," says Hod Kosman, Chairman, CEO & President of Platte Valley Companies. PV Mortgage Company provides the loans which are guaranteed by the federal government. The program features no down payment to eligible income households and no maximum mortgage limits. Existing guaranteed or direct loan borrowers may refinance their home loans under the GRH loan program to obtain a possible lower interest rate. For more information... call 635-3006 and stop in and talk to one of our lenders at PV Mortgage Company, located at 1212 Circle Dr., Scottsbluff, NE.