Tag Archives: Community Banking

VCNB Introduces Limited Time $1,000 Closing Cost Credit Special

Posted on by
Reply

Is a new home on your wish list? How long have you been waiting? More importantly, why are you waiting? Here are VCNB, we understand that buying a home or building a new home is an intimidating task. It’s also one of the most important investments you’ll make for your future.

That’s why we have people to help you through. Our experienced mortgage and construction lenders understand the excitement and the nerves, the potential and the worry. We understand you need someone to look out for your interests and to guide you through the process of financing your new home.

Whether you’re building your dream home, buying your starter home or downsizing to a tiny home, you’ll find that our lenders will replace the stress and worry with understanding and anticipation of what’s to come. Best of all, VCNB is currently offering a special to make the process that much sweeter!

This special is for $1,000 toward closing costs on real estate purchase or construction applications received from April 1 through June 30, 2022 that result in a closed loan with VCNB by September 30, 2022. *See terms below for complete details.

Ready to get started? There’s no reason to wait! Contact your local branch or call 1.800.542.5004 to make an appointment with a mortgage or construction lender today!

*The $1,000 Closing Cost offer is valid for Real Estate purchase or construction applications received April 1, 2022 through June 30, 2022 that result in a closed loan with VCNB by September 30, 2022. Offer is only available for conventional purchase or construction transactions of an owner-occupied primary residence. Offer is not available on Brokered Loans, Refinances, Home Improvements, Land Purchases, Home Equity loans and Home Equity Lines of Credit. The $1,000 closing cost offer will be in the form of a lender credit and will be applied at the time of closing. Offer cannot be redeemed for cash. All loans are subject to underwriting and property approval. Not all applicants will qualify for this promotional offer. Other terms and conditions may apply. Offer cannot be retroactively applied to previously closed loans or loans currently in process. Offer is subject to change or end without notice at VCNB discretion. NMLS #483350

Giving Is What We Do

Posted on by
Reply

Giving is as much a part of community banking as the actual bank work we do for you. As your community bank, we see value in supporting the events and organizations that are part of the fabric of life in our neighborhoods.

We understand that kids need to see adults supporting their schools and activities through volunteerism and monetary donations. Hopefully they’ll grow up to be supporters as well. We understand that the backbone of entertainment and togetherness often comes from the nonprofits in our small towns. Where would we be without our volunteer firefighters or our senior citizens centers? Who would rally for our small businesses if not for our Chamber of Commerce?

That’s why we give each of our sixteen local offices a budget for doing good work in their community. Some choose to support every request in a small way while others choose a handful of projects to support with a big check. This year, VCNB gave away over $300,000 to projects both big and small. For example, our Ashville branch gave $3,200 to help the Ashville Food Pantry with their new building project. In McArthur, we sponsored the Adulting 101 program offered at the Rio Grande McArthur Center and also gave $5,000 to help with playground renovations at Wyman Park. 

Our Laurelville office gave a thousand dollars to the Laurelville Volunteer Fire Department again this year as part of an annual tradition to be part of Ohio’s most expensive cake auction.  Our branches in Ross County, Fairfield County, Pataskala and Canal Winchester teamed up to support Bottoms Up’s World’s Largest Diaper Drive in May. We buy livestock and sponsor events at many county fairs and donate door prizes for local fundraisers.

From the Berne Union Music Boosters to the Vinton County Wild Turkey Festival, these are just a few of the ways we have been able to help our communities with donations.

We also encourage our employees to volunteer, offering them comp time for their volunteer activities outside of work. We have employees who help in the concessions stand at football games and who do seamstress work for school plays. We serve on boards and help with grant applications for nonprofits in our free time. We work the gate at the county fair, help out with the Humane Society and pick up litter in parks.

We often send employees out to do special projects during the workday too. Over the years, employees have helped with giveaway day at the food pantry, taught financial literacy at the high school and prepared meals for residents at Ronald McDonald House.

You never know where you might find VCNB and our employees trying to serve our communities.

We tell you this, not to brag, so much as to reassure you that your community bank loves your community as much as you do. We also want to lead by example and hope that you will feel inspired to roll up your sleeves and find a way to get involved. As we finish out 2021 and begin looking ahead to 2022, we wish you and yours a very Happy New Year of good health and prosperity.

Meet Your Banker: Cindy Moore Joins The VCNB Family

Posted on by
Reply

The VCNB Financial Family is happy to welcome Cindy Moore to our Friendly Bremen Banking Center. Moore is a Business Banker who brings to the job the enthusiasm and experience necessary to help businesses with all their banking needs.

Cindy Moore is a Business Banker in Lancaster.

She has actually worked in the banking world since 1991, serving in a number of positions including branch management, consumer lending, mortgage lending and commercial lending. While she has vast experience in banking, Moore’s expertise may actually be in understanding customers and helping with their needs. “I really enjoy learning about our customers, their business and being able to assist them with all their lending needs,” she said.

She is a graduate of the Blythe School of Banking, American Bankers Association Bank Management School and American Bankers Association School of Consumer Lending.

When asked why she chose to join the VCNB family, Moore referenced the bank’s core values and how they relate to the community and customers. “I chose to come work for VCNB because we pride ourselves in being a community centered organization. I appreciate our core values: integrity, leadership, community focus, progress and our relationship with our customers,” she said.

Moore lives in Lancaster with her husband Eric and they have two grown children and three grandchildren. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, swimming, gardening and being outdoors.

Cindy Moore is excited to serve local businesses and help them reach their banking goals. Find her at our Friendly Bremen Banking Center on East Main Street in Lancaster or call her at 740.687.3920.  

Meet Your Banker: Sandy Wachenschwanz

Posted on by
Reply

Sandy Wachenschwanz was just a teenager when she took her first job in the banking industry. Forty two years later, she has worked in several aspects of local banks and recently transitioned into a new one here at VCNB. She is the bank’s newest Retail Lender in our McArthur location.

Sandy began her career serving in the Operations Department of a bank in Athens where she was a jack-of-all trades in the days before computers. “We did everything by hand. Returned checks, wires, balancing the general ledger. It was all done manually,” she recalled as she reminisced about the reasons she fell in love with banking. “I liked the logic of it all and solving problems,” she said.

Sandy Wachenschwanz is now a Retail Lender at VCNB’s McArthur location.

After nineteen years in that department she moved into mortgage lending and also assisted commercial processors with some duties. She moved up the ladder to work as a branch assistant manager while continuing to hone her mortgage lending skills. Along the way she learned well all sides of banking and the ways banks can help customers.

Sandy came to VCNB’s McArthur location in 2019 as branch Assistant Manager but was pleased this year to move back into her lending roots as a Retail Lender. “I really enjoy helping people achieve their goals and helping people figure out their finances so they can make their lives better. That’s a lot of fun and something I have always enjoyed,” she explained.

She credits having good teachers over the years, other bankers who led by example and helped her be a better lender. The Albany area resident has three children and three step-children. She and her husband Robert enjoy their nine grandchildren and the benefits of having a big family. She is actively involved in her church as a Sunday School teacher and Church Secretary.

“I’m happy to be here in McArthur helping local people achieve their dreams and build better lives. I invite anyone seeking a loan or who is not sure where to start to get in touch so we can talk,” she said.

Reach Sandy in the McArthur office at 740.596.2525, Extension 2212 or email Sandra.Wachenschwanz@vintoncountybank.com.

Kim Carpenter Will Retire Friday

Posted on by
3

Kim Carpenter has spent her entire career in banking and it shows. The drive thru window teller will retire Friday from her post at Ross County Banking Center on Main Street in Chillicothe after spending years developing a loyal following of customers.

Customers know Kim as the friendly woman who remembers how they like their change and who knows the names of all their dogs. What some may not realize is that she hasn’t always worked in a customer facing job. She actually started out in the operations department of a bank in Homestead, Florida at the age of 17. “When I was a high school senior, I went to school in the morning and went home for lunch. Then I would go to the bank where I worked part time in bookkeeping. I loved that job.”

Kim Carpenter will retire this week after 22 years at Ross County Banking Center in Chillicothe.

After graduation, she got married and went full time at the bank before eventually taking time off to have children. “I tried to go back to work after my first son was born but I kept hearing about his firsts from other people and I didn’t want to hear about those things. I wanted to be there to see him grow up.”

By the time she returned to the workforce in the early eighties, a lot had changed. She recalled being assigned to use a computer for the first time. “I had been there a while and thought I was doing a good job but one day this message popped up that my password was going to expire and I thought that meant I was being fired,” she laughed. “I worried about that for two days before I worked up the nerve to ask someone about it. They got a big laugh out of it because it’s just standard procedure in a bank. But I didn’t know! I hadn’t worked with computers before!”

In 1995, her sons were grown, she was divorced and had an opportunity to return to Ohio. Her family had moved to Florida when she was in the first grade but her heart remained in the Buckeye state. In fact, she fondly recalls childhood summers spent visiting her grandparents’ farm where they raised crops and animals. “I looked forward to it all year. It was old school farm life and I think that’s where I really learned to love animals. I got that from my grandparents.”

After coming back to Ohio, she briefly worked another job before returning to her banking roots, this time as a teller. And the rest, as they say, is history.

“I had never worked as a teller or with customers so I really didn’t know if I could do it but I’m so glad that I came here.”

Starting part time, she quickly was offered a full time position and eventually moved to the drive thru window where she has stayed for about 18 of the 22 years she has been with the bank.

Here she has gotten to know customers from a different perspective. “The drive thru is different than meeting people at the teller window. You see a little bit into their world. You see their kids grow up in the backseat, meet their dogs. I‘ve been offered opportunities to do other things but really love working the drive thru and didn’t want to leave.”

She recalls how children who loved getting suckers when they came through with their parents are now adults bringing their own little ones to the bank. One little girl didn’t want her mom to even stop at the bank “unless my Kim is working” –she still banks with Kim as an adult.

While Kim loves her work, she looks forward to having free time to spend as she wishes. “I want to just be home, to take care of things I’ve been putting off because I’m busy. And I want to have more time with my animals,” she explained.

In fact, Kim’s eyes light up when she talks about her animals like her little dog Mandee, a pony named KT and a host of others including chickens, cats and goats. She and her husband Jeff have a small farm complete with a garden that she looks forward to working in more. “I love being outdoors. If I’m home, I’m not in front of the tv. I’m outside with the animals or mowing – there’s always something!” she said. “We like going to auctions and yard sales on the weekends so it will be nice to get things done during the week and not feel bad about going out to have fun on the weekends.”

Kim and Jeff have been married for almost 23 years. She has two sons, four stepchildren and five grandchildren. She soon will be a great grandmother.

Her last day of work will be Friday. “I will miss my customers and I’ll miss a lot of coworkers too,” she said. “The people here are so nice, so friendly. I will miss that aspect but I think this is a good time to go and I’m looking forward to my freedom.”

Deep Roots, Strong Branches

Posted on by
Reply

A Greek proverb tells us that society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.

Daniel Will, VCNB Founding President

This reminds us of our founder Daniel Will and makes us wonder if he had any inkling his bank would still be growing from seeds he planted in 1867. The roots of our family tree run deep and grow from principles that Dan gave us – be honest, get to know your customers, embrace what’s new that works, invest in the community, and do the right thing for the people who depend on you.

When he saw a need for a store in the community, Dan opened a store. When his customers needed credit, he helped them out. When they needed a safe place to keep their money, they trusted him to keep it secure in the store’s vault. And when he realized the town needed a bank, he set to work building what the community and his customers needed most.

This is the model we continue to follow. This is who we are and this is why we are grateful for Dan Will and those seeds he planted all those years ago.

Let’s face it – the deeper the roots, the healthier the tree and the stronger the branches will grow. So whichever VCNB branch you choose – whether it’s our first bank in McArthur, one of our newer branches in central Ohio or somewhere in between – it’s not just a branch. It’s part of a strong family tree of banks that continues to grow and reach toward the sky.

In Their Own Words: Community Banking According To Our Branch Managers

Posted on by
Reply

We are proud to be a community bank. What does it really mean to be a community bank? We asked some of our branch managers to tell us in their own words what community banking means to them and what they like best about being a community banker. Here’s what they had to say!

“One of the things I appreciate about working for a community bank is that we get to know our customers and their unique needs. Growing up on a farm, I understand a farmer’s business and their needs. They don’t have to explain their life and the challenges to me the way they would to someone without that background.”

Katy Hanes

“I like being able to get to know my customers and I think they appreciate the personal touch they get from us. That’s not something that’s encouraged or even possible at big banks so it feels really good to offer it here.”

Matt Hearn

“One thing I really like about VCNB is that they encourage us to get involved in the community, they reward us for volunteering and they want us to know our customers.         I never had that before at my old job.”

Christina Wine

“The thing about working in a bank in a small community is that you get to know almost everyone and they get to know you. It feels good when someone calls and asks for you. It tells you that that you’re doing something right – that you’ve built a relationship with that person and that they trust you to take care of them.”

Charlotte McCarty

“It’s going to sound cheesy but I love helping people, especially the problem solving aspect of what I do. I appreciate that we are taught about why a policy or procedure exists and the bank gives us the tools and leeway to work with our customers.
We’re sometimes able to find ways to help the customer whether it’s helping them get approved for a car loan because their car just blew up or finding ways to help them
stop over drafting an account.”

JJ Wright

“You don’t find that community feel just anywhere but our involvement in the community allows us to be a resource to customers. That extends to employees too. When your staff and coworkers feel like family, you all work together better. You help each other out more and you feel like we’re all in this together.”

Brittany Walters

“I like to problem solve and love when I can figure out a customer’s issues.
That’s rewarding to help and to be a resource for them. Even with seventeen branches, we are still a community bank. We’re still allowed enough leeway to help customers
in a way that you just don’t find at big businesses. I mean, we all know
the Executive Team here. We all know the President.
We all are given the confidence and the freedom to work together.”

Kati Maple

“Do you know how important it is to work for a company that encourages employees to get involved? And it’s not just about opening savings accounts and lending money. It’s about helping out at events and going to the fair to buy livestock. I was a 4-her once and I remember how important it was to have businesses support the livestock sale. That’s where I got the money to open my savings account, from taking hogs to the fair!”

Jeremy Robson

“This is so much more rewarding than corporate banking which is very black and white. In corporate banking, there’s no opportunity to get to know your customers or to help someone who you’ve had to tell they can’t have what they want but that there
may be another solution. It’s like night and day when you go to work for a bank that actually wants to work with customers.”

Matthew Giroux

Here for You Badge

VCNB Opens New Jackson Branch Monday

Posted on by
Reply

Jackson coming soonMonday will be a banner day for our staff in Jackson as this will mark our first day of operation in a newly constructed branch. The new office is located at 471 McCarty Lane, just around the corner from the current Jackson branch.

VCNB President Mark Erslan said that he looks forward to opening the new branch to the public. “We are really excited about the completion of our new office in Jackson. The growth we’ve experienced in the limited time we’ve been in Jackson has exceeded our expectations,” he said.

The bank opened a loan office in a small space on Veterans Drive in 2016. It quickly became clear that there was a demand in Jackson for VCNB to have a full service bank and the Jackson County Banking Center opened in 2017. That space was quickly outgrown and ground was broken last year for this new facility.

Customers will appreciate the state-of-the art drive-thru system and drive-up ATM. The Intelligent Deposit ATM uses no envelopes, accepting deposits of cash and checks and giving customers same-day credit for up to $500 daily. Inside, personal bankers are trained to help customers with nearly any loan or deposit need. A kid’s corner will help keep little ones occupied while their parents do business, and a digital learning area will allow customers who prefer self-service to log into their VCNB online accounts, read account literature and do more on iPads.

Most of all, there is plenty of room in the 6,000 square foot facility for bankers to spread out and help their customers with respect to customer privacy and safety in socially distanced times. “We just can’t wait to service our Jackson County customers with a brand new office that features modern amenities and plenty of room. We’re very pleased with the outcome of the planning, design and construction and looking forward to the chance for everyone to see and experience the new facility,” Erslan said.

The current branch will be open through Friday. This location will be closed on Saturday morning so they can move into the new facility. Visit us in Jackson at 471 McCarty Lane beginning Monday, July 27. We look forward to serving you in our new branch!