Communities across Pennsylvania are growing and thriving because their community banks care. The service and commitment demonstrated by community bank employees keeps customers faithful, and their sincerity keeps others hopeful. It is because of these employees that communities across the Commonwealth are thriving and becoming better places to live and work.
When it comes to community banking in Pennsylvania, the uniqueness, talent and attributes of the 14,000 individual community bank employees combine to make the entire industry greater than the sum of its parts.
As we travel across Pennsylvania, we meet community bank employees from many different backgrounds. Some are new to the industry, others have worked their entire careers in it. No matter how long these employees have been involved in community banking, they all share a common thread – a love for their community. They truly are the ones responsible for #KeepingTheLightsOn in their hometown.
As part of an ongoing series, each month we will be featuring brief interviews with these community bank employees, these “Hometown Champions”. Through these interviews, we hope to gain some insight into what makes the community banking industry great in Pennsylvania.
Since this will be our last printed edition of Transactions, we decided that it was only fitting for us to chat with the hometown champions from PACB. Our team wanted to give you a little insight into who we are and how we started working for you. While we may never meet all of our readers face-to-face, we still want you to feel like you know us whenever we speak on the phone or via email. PACB’s mission is “Empowering community bankers to serve today – Preparing the next generation to serve tomorrow.” We are the team behind the scenes, striving to carry out that mission.
Barbara Holbert
SVP of Strategy and Operations
How did your career at PACB start?
Barbara: I have been in banking association work since 1990 so I was very familiar with PACB and the industry. Through a friend I found out that PACB was looking for someone and began conversations with Nick and joined PACB in May of 2015.
What is the most rewarding aspect of working in the community banking industry?
Barbara: Bankers are kind, appreciative, fun and generous people. Making friends and forming professional relationships with them has definitely been the most rewarding part of banking association work.
People always want a definition of “community bank,” what’s yours?
Barbara: Community banks are financial institutions based/headquartered and locally branched in the communities where their team members live and work. They make decisions locally and are the economic engine for the communities they serve.
Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
Barbara: My background is music with study of voice, piano and bassoon. I spent years as a bassoonist lessoning in NYC & Philadelphia and playing in the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra.
What is the 5th picture in your camera roll on your phone, and can you please share the story behind it?
Barbara: This is a photo of two of my five children at a track meet. My kids are the lights of my life and they love to embarrass each other at every opportunity. This PDA is one of those embarrassing moments.
Patty Kuharic
Comptroller
How did your career at PACB start?
Patty: I joined the PACB team in January 2011 as the Executive Assistant to the newly named President/COO Nick DiFrancesco. I had been working part time in our family’s residential construction business and both of my daughters had just moved out – one newly married and the other away at college. It seemed like the right time for me to rejoin the fulltime workforce. I knew Nick from my previous employment as Dauphin County’s Finance Director. PACB seemed like a good place to combine my financial background with the opportunity to work with a great group of people, community bankers.
What is the most rewarding aspect of working in the community banking industry?
Patty: For me the most rewarding part of working in this industry is learning about the many ways community banks make a difference in their communities. Every day I read or hear another story of the impact this industry has on the individuals and communities that it serves. I have really enjoyed proofreading Transactions each month for just this reason. You all truly are difference makers in your hometowns! I hope I am contributing in some small way to help you and your teams continue to thrive.
People always want a definition of “community bank,” what’s yours?
Patty: As a customer of a few different community banks, I can honestly say it is the people that make a difference. When my borrowing needs were not from the traditional, cookie cutter mold rather than hear “we can’t do that” I was told “let’s see how we might be able to help you with that”. The smiles and greetings that I routinely receive from the tellers when I conduct my routine banking make me feel valued. So to summarize, I think a community bank knows and appreciates its customers and is willing to work with them to accomplish their financial goals. In that same vein, a community bank is typically a huge hands-on supporter of events in its community.
Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
Patty: I’m a farmgirl at heart. Several years ago my husband and I purchased and renovated my grandparent’s farmhouse that had fallen into disrepair. Our family raised Simmental beef cattle and I showed steers as part of the local 4H club. Both of my daughters showed cattle too – not only at the annual PA Farm Show (where they even had a few champions J) but in almost every state east of the Mississippi River. George and I have a fair sized vegetable garden and we very much enjoy eating the fruits of our labor.
What is the 5th picture in your camera roll on your phone, and can you please share the story behind it?
Patty: The 5th picture on my camera roll is the newest addition to our family- Jensen Mylin Unick born April 14, 2018. He and his parents live in Gilbert, AZ. This picture is from when they were visiting us to attend a wedding in August. Jensen is our third grandchild, joining Lana (15) and Scarlett (5).
Eric Kovac
Communications Director
How did your career at PACB start?
Eric: In mid-2011, after the photo studio I worked for closed up shop, you could find me rocking the unemployment line by day and planning my wedding by night. Then one day in November 2011, I decided to answer a blind ad in the newspaper looking for a publication’s manager. A few days later, I received a call from a woman named Patty who wanted to set up an interview with her company, Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers. Hmmm…mind as well give it a shot. December 1, 2011, I put on my too-small suit, gathered up my portfolios, and drove to the office. Nick and I sat down for well over an hour and just talked, looked at my portfolio, and discussed the company. As far as I remember, he never even asked me any questions. We just talked. I left that “interview” and called my now wife to tell her that I was pretty sure I just got the job. Sure enough, the next day Nick called me up to ask if I wanted to join his team at PACB. January 3, 2012, I began my career at PACB and never looked back!
What is the most rewarding aspect of working in the community banking industry?
Eric:I love the human interaction. From community bankers, to associate members, to bank customers, everyone I meet at this job is simply amazing. I love traveling the state to meet with staff at our various member banks, checking out their town’s main street, and talking about the great things they are doing for their communities every day.
People always want a definition of “community bank,” what’s yours?
Eric:To me, a community bank is a family. A community bank is a group of individual people that make up a staff that serves its local area. This staff cares about the community in which they live and they want to see their community thrive, they want to take pride in their hometown. Community bankers care about their customers, because those customers make up the community’s family.
Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
Eric:Oh man…so much to choose from!
I guess we’ll go with the fact that my right femur has a titanium rod inside of it. Once my growth plates had closed up, my right leg was an inch and a half longer than my left leg. The summer before my senior year in high school, I had surgery to correct it. I’ll spare you the (fascinating) details of the surgery here, but if you ever want to hear the story, just ask me in person! Long story short (pun intended?), my legs are roughly the same length now, all I have to show for the surgery is a 1-inch scar on my hip and a very small scar near my knee, I do not set off metal detectors with my leg, and I’m glad that I had my right leg shortened instead of my left leg lengthened. Oh, and because of the surgery, I spent the beginning of my senior year of high school in a wheel chair, telling all the girls that I was bit by a shark on summer vacation. It didn’t work the way my teenage mind had envisioned it.
What is the 5th picture in your camera roll on your phone, and can you please share the story behind it?
Eric:My 5th picture is of a really awesome new growler that I received over the summer. It’s the GrowlerWerks uKeg, and it hold an entire gallon of beer…HEAVEN! What makes this particular growler so awesome is that you place a CO2 cartridge in the cap when you have it filled and that cartridge keeps the beer carbonated. Another great feature is that because the beer stays carbonated and pressurized, it can be served from the little beer tap build into the growler. I’m not going to lie…it’s probably the second-greatest invention in the history of mankind! The greatest invention is obviously the liquid bread that goes inside of it.
Allison L. Coccia
Director of Government Relations
How did your career at PACB start?
Allison: I’d been working on political campaigns throughout my career and wanted to move back to Pennsylvania to be closer to my family. I’d previously worked for the Pennsylvania legislature, so I was looking for a state-government related position and found out this position was open before it went public. I was interested immediately. A few colleagues reached out to Nick with letters of recommendation and I was meeting with him within two days. The rest is history!
What is the most rewarding aspect of working in the community banking industry?
Allison:The people. Community bankers are the best of the best. They care deeply about their communities, strive to make a difference in the lives of their customers, and demonstrate their leadership not just in words but in action. I love to travel to our member banks to meet the great people who work there and learn the history of the bank.
People always want a definition of “community bank,” what’s yours?
Allison:Community banks are ever-present forces in their communities, funding local economic development projects, school sporting events, community projects and events , animal shelters, projects for children and charities. Community banks make it a priority to understand their communities needs and provide their customers with a true banking relationship not just transactions.
Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
Allison: I was a registered Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) when I was 18 years old. My step father was a volunteer fireman and he and my mother decided they wanted to volunteer for the local ambulance as well. They both became EMTs and I was soon to follow.
What is the 5th picture in your camera roll on your phone, and can you please share the story behind it?
Allison: My dog, Beau. He is a four year old Yorkshire terrier and rarely lets me take a photo.
Evelyn M. Sponsler
Executive Administrative Assistant
How did your career at PACB start?
Evelyn: About 3 years ago I decided that it was time for a career change. I thought what would I like to do in this stage of my life? I thought back to my past where I grew up in a small town where everyone knew everyone else and our community banks were responsible for our community survival. As an adult I saw how Community banks gave life to my small town and we were all grateful for them. So I jumped in quickly and love every minute of working in this field.
What is the most rewarding aspect of working in the community banking industry?
Evelyn:Now it is my time to give back to them. To be there with whatever resources are needed to help Community Banks thrive and any assistance I can give them to make their job easier. If I don’t have the answer to their problems or questions I sure do know where to direct them.
People always want a definition of “community bank,” what’s yours?
Evelyn:Home is my definition. That is the warm and fuzzy feeling you get when thinking of home. It is the Community Bank’s approach to knowing the people in the community, sticking their neck out for them and giving them the chance they need to buy a car to get to work, a home to raise a family or help send their children to college. Community Banks support the hometown and they are our heroes and our lifeline.
Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
Evelyn:I bet I can surprise you on this question. I got married on August 25th, 2018 after being a widow for 24 years. Another knight in shining armor captured my heart. So this proves you are never too old to start over.
What is the 5th picture in your camera roll on your phone, and can you please share the story behind it?
Evelyn:This is a picture of my youngest son and his beautiful daughter at her Father-Daughter school dance starting out with a private dinner. Obviously you can see immediately my handsome son and awesome granddaughter. No words necessary from a proud Mother and devoted Granny.
Jena Wolgemuth
Executive Assistant to the President
How did your career at PACB start?
Jena: I started at PACB in 2000 as the Administrative Assistant, answering the phones, managing bulk mailings, copying legislative briefs for Nick DiFrancesco and prepping communications for Frank Pinto. I spent 2 happy years at the PACB until I followed my heart, and my college degree, to enter the world of counseling. Ultimately, 14 years and many varied job titles later I returned to PACB as the Executive Assistant to the now President & CEO, Nick DiFrancesco.
What is the most rewarding aspect of working in the community banking industry?
Jena:There is something about the banking community in Pennsylvania, you can actually feel that the employees care. It’s a combination of a warm welcome, coupled with a genuine smile and their ability to look you in the eye and listen to what you are saying. I am happy to be a part of that! When I hear people compliment any one of our member banks, I feel a bit of pride knowing that I do my best to help support them and allow them to provide their customers with the best community bank experience possible.
People always want a definition of “community bank,” what’s yours?
Jena:To me, a community bank is a place you can go to perform all of your banking needs, that’s motivating force is: “How can I best serve my customer today?”
Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
Jena:Most people don’t know that I am a huge fan of volleyball. I started playing when I was 12 and am now trying to lure my son down the same path, although soccer seems to be getting in the way. J I played in college and started coaching shortly thereafter, both boys and girls team and for me there is nothing better than seeing a child’s self-confidence grow when they start to conquer a skill. It is a lifetime sport that has opened many doors for me and given me many opportunities that I most likely would never have experienced.
What is the 5th picture in your camera roll on your phone, and can you please share the story behind it?
Jena:As I previously mentioned, my son is a huge soccer fan, so we went to see the Philadelphia Union play the LA Galaxy, and Zlatan Ibrahimović, at Talen Energy Stadium in Philly. It was a great game, despite the fact that it rained pretty much the whole time! (FYI—steer clear of soggy stadium pretzels!)
