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.
This month, we chat with the hometown champions from MCS Bank, a state-chartered, mutual savings bank operating five community branches in Mifflin, Huntingdon and Snyder Counties and a Loan Center in Lewistown, Mifflin County. Originally formed in 1923 as the Mifflin County Building and Loan Association, MCS Bank has grown throughout the years by focusing its attention on the local community and serving the core banking and home-financing needs of their retail customers, as well as the business needs of their small-business customers.
Richard Dorsch
Branch Manager
How did you get into community banking?
Richard: I began my banking career in 1976 as a teller in a community bank in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. I spent 10 years learning and advancing there and, in 1986, my wife and I relocated to rural central Pennsylvania where I had accepted a position as a branch manager in a large regional bank. The area was great, but the move to a large bank was a mistake. In 1992, I was fortunate to get a position at another community bank in the same vicinity, but over the course of 19 years, and after a few mergers, it too became a large bank. Finally, in 2011, I returned to a community bank by accepting a branch manager’s position with MCS Bank. I feel like I’ve come home.
What is the most rewarding aspect of working in community banking?
Richard: The most rewarding aspect of working in a community bank is the daily reminder that I am an important part of my neighbors achieving their life goals.
People always want a definition of “community bank,” what’s yours?
Richard: A community bank is a group of dedicated local employees catering to the financial needs of the people who live in their area without having to support and answer to a far-removed larger authority. It is local people serving their neighbors.
Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
Richard: I have a degree in Music Education and I only began working asa teller, because I needed a job and the president of the community bank offered me one. I never intended on making banking my life career.
What is the 5th picture in your camera roll on your phone, and can you please share the story behind it?
Richard: The 5th picture on my camera is of my grandson Teddy. For Thanksgiving last year, we had my son and one of my 2 daughters and their families spend a couple of days at our small home. Including my sister-in-law, there were 20 of us, and things were a bit cramped. We loved it though. My son brought along his large dog, Bear, and Teddy decided to try out Bear’s kennel.
Andrew LeGuen
Branch Manager
How did you get into community banking?
Andrew: I wish I had a more interesting story to tell but it was simply chance. I was hired by a larger regional bank to manage a location I was told was underperforming. After 6 months they told me it was closing in 3 months…I got Christmas off to spend with my family and young daughter, worked a part-time tax job, then saw an advertisement for MCSBank. I was used to navigating HR call chains, so I was surprised when my interview included multiple members of upper management and a follow up with the CEO and COO. I got hired and started a few weeks later.
What is the most rewarding aspect of working in community banking?
Andrew: The most rewarding aspect is the hometown feel and serving the community! It’s being able to deliver a solution to the customer without having to check with someone 500 miles away.
People always want a definition of “community bank,” what’s yours?
Andrew: I think it’s simply a bank that has skin in the game, meaning that the market’s success is directly tied to the bank’s success. We can’t just close up and move on.
Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
Andrew: I spent a large portion of my life planning to be a history teacher. Had a friend that was doing some student teaching with middle school kids and after hearing about how that experience was going, I got really nervous about committing myself to that specific career path. Made some adjustments and pursued a double major to open myself up to additional opportunities and never looked back. However, when I see a job listing for a history teacher position, I still ponder it!
What is the 5th picture in your camera roll on your phone, and can you please share the story behind it?
Andrew: The 5th picture in my phone camera is of my daughters checking out their Christmas gifts!
Danielle Doebler
Retail Loan Officer
How did you get into community banking?
Danielle: I started working at a nursing home part-time while I was in high school. I worked in the kitchen serving meals to the residents. I enjoyed getting to know them and hearing their stories from years ago. This is also where I met my sweetheart. We served the residents together for about 4 years. We got married in 2005. While I was pregnant with our second daughter, I finished working on my business degree. After she was born I started looking for new opportunities. That’s when my mother told me she saw an ad in the newspaper that MCS Bank was looking for a teller. Next thing I knew I was sitting across the table at an interview with Terry Foster. After accepting the job and working as a teller for about 6 months, a position in accounting became available. Eager to learn as much knowledge that I could about banking, I moved positions. About a year later, a position opened up to become a loan processor. Once again, excited to learn more, I became part of the loan team. I worked as a consumer and commercial processor. A few years later I became a loan officer. It has been 12 years now since I started at the bank. Looking back, it has been a great experience to learn different pieces of banking. I can really appreciate the process of it all.
What is the most rewarding aspect of working in community banking?
Danielle: My favorite part of lending are the moments when I am sitting at the closing table with customers who I have gotten to know. At the closing table when the transaction has been completed, I look across the table to the people that I have made this journey with and realize I was a part of a chapter of their life. I have become a part of their lives and they have become a part of mine. They are no longer just customers, they are people that I have grown to know and care about.
People always want a definition of “community bank,” what’s yours?
Danielle: My definition of a “community bank” is simple. We are just people helping people. What I focus on the most is to help the next person who walks through the door to reach their goals. And to be honest, I may not be able to get them that house they want right now, but I believe my strength is that I am willing to take the time and get them on the path so that they can, in the future, buy the house they have always dreamed about. We want our customers to be successful in their goals. We invest in people!
Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know.
Danielle: People might not know that I don’t mind getting my hands dirty. I have lots of interests from hiking, to baking cupcakes, to serving in my church. My husband and I were leaders of our church’s mission team. Our team has served at our local shelter, we have fed the homeless in Harrisburg and we have gone to Kensington Ave. in Philadelphia to help and encourage those who are in the bondage of addiction. I don’t want to change the world, I just want to change someone’s world.
What is the 5th picture in your camera roll on your phone, and can you please share the story behind it?
Danielle: The 5th picture on my camera roll is a picture of the Statue of Liberty. My oldest daughter turned 16 and ever since she was little she wanted to go to New York City. For her birthday our family went on a bus trip to New York. We scheduled it in the spring thinking it would be perfect weather; not too cold, not too hot. It turned out to be the coldest day of spring and it rained all day. But we didn’t let that bother us. My daughter and I were the only ones to brave the elements on the top of the double decker bus. We were soaked and so cold but we didn’t care, we still had a great trip.
