Over the summer recess I visited Scottish Building Society in Galashiels and met chief executive Paul Denton at its local relationship centre.
Scottish Building Society is a mutual, owned by its members rather than shareholders, with six relationship centres across Scotland.
Staff are based locally, giving members somewhere they can discuss mortgages, savings and other important financial decisions face to face.
The society also runs events for members on subjects such as pensions, inheritance tax, future planning and avoiding fraud and scams.
Rather than centralising that expertise, it has used technology to support staff across its local centres. In Galashiels, that means jobs and expertise stay in the town.
One issue was downsizing. For older homeowners looking to move to a smaller property, the tax and costs involved can take a sizeable chunk of the money they might otherwise free up.
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax is part of that.
That can put people off moving, even when they would prefer a smaller home. Paul and I agreed this was something worth picking up, and we discussed bringing people together for a roundtable at Parliament to look at the issue properly.
Businesses like Scottish Building Society, which choose to keep jobs and decision-making in the Borders, deserve our custom and support.
Another local business I visited was Motivity, where directors Hannah and Marcus French showed me around and explained what they do.
Motivity designs and builds electric motors. Marcus has 25 years in the industry, and they chose to locate the business in Galashiels.
Part of their thinking is that the Borders already has a long tradition of skilled manufacturing, particularly through textiles. The materials may be different, but some of the skills and mindset are familiar.
Where companies such as Emtelle in Hawick have built a modern manufacturing business around fibre, Motivity is doing it with copper and electric motors.
From Galashiels they supply motors for products used well beyond the Borders, including vacuum cleaners and washing machines. They are now finalising a new contract that will bring more jobs to the area.
A business like that needs practical help to grow, whether through enterprise agencies or the right funding routes. That is part of my job too.