People

In June 2023, BayCoast Bank in Swansea, Massachusetts, joined forces with a network of community partners to create a playhouse for a young girl with life-limiting medical challenges.

Community State Bank and Shepherds College united to create Shepherds Community Café, a donation-based coffee shop that fosters occupational experience for students with different needs.

“With core providers more open to fintech integrations, we can cast a larger net around the products and services that address a strategic need.”

We all know how powerful curiosity can be. Every great leader knows that inviting feedback and questions from their team can be a highly collaborative and productive process. However, the ways in which we solicit questions can vary—as can the results.

John Buhrmaster, chief executive officer at $700 million-asset 1st National Bank of Scotia in Scotia, New York, shares how he and his father, chairman Lou Buhrmaster, have a unique connection to vintage taxi cabs—one that once saved their bank.

“Trust banks are not required to meet the same kinds of regulatory and capital standards that apply to federally insured full-service banks.”

Creating succession plans for family-owned community banks can be complicated in all sorts of ways, but having hard conversations and setting goals will ensure your family’s pride and joy will continue for years to come.

In March, Bank of the Pacific in Aberdeen, Washington, sponsored the Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser for Friends of the Children Portland.

Susan McLaughlin is assistant vice president, auditor and financial reporting analyst at Merchants National Bank in Logan, Ohio. As a certified community bank internal auditor (CCBIA), McLaughlin shares how internal auditors play a vital role in community banking.