President’s Message
My favorite professor in college used to say, “In business, you’re either growing or you’re dying; there is no third direction.” As I noted in my previous President’s Message, Community Bank’s direction continues to be up. We have grown tremendously over the past 25 years and are continuing to evolve and change with each passing year.
As part of our strategic planning process, we decided to make some changes in our organization to facilitate continued growth and profitability. The biggest change was creating separate Retail (consumer) and Business Banking (commercial) departments, which will allow our employees to concentrate on a particular customer base and continue to provide them the best products and services in the industry. We created the Personal Banker position in the Retail department to enhance the onboarding experience for consumers with Community Bank. We moved all commercial banking functions to our Business Banking department, making it a one-stop-shop for our small business customers. And finally, we have added extra staff at all locations to ensure our customers get the same face-to-face, personal service they have come to expect from Community Bank.
If you get a chance, please stop in to one of our branches and say hello to some of the new faces you see. They are ready and waiting to help! And if you happen to see me in one of the lobbies, make sure to ask me about some of the other sayings that same professor had – there are some real doozies!
That being said, some things at our bank will never change. We still believe our customers are people, not numbers. When you call us, we want you to feel that friendly smile through the telephone. When you apply for a loan, we want to find a way to say yes rather than look for a reason to say no. And most of all, we will always remember that serving our customers is the number one reason we are here.
Personally, I would like to thank everyone in our communities for an amazing 25 years. You have welcomed my family to this wonderful area, helped us make it our home, and we appreciate it more than you know.
Ted Gerber, President / CEO
