We recently promoted two staff members to branch manager and welcomed back a manager who was the recipient of a Tompkins VIST Bank sales award. These team members truly personify what is exceptional about our company.

Andy Marker is the new manager of our Blandon Office. With 37 years in banking, he joined us several years ago as assistant manager of the Exeter Branch. Jorge Richards is newer to banking, having started here six years ago, but he has risen to the role of manager of our Hamburg Branch. And Jennifer Woodland, who has been named a “Rising Star” for being a team player and on the path to success, returned recently to again manage our Breezy Corners office.

All three have superior financial knowledge and exemplify our bank’s core values of community support and dedication to customers, says Stefanie Shirk, community banking regional manager. “Andy, Jennifer and Jorge LOVE the communities where they work,” said Stefanie. “They’re always out and about at community events, helping to raise funds and support local organizations,” she said.

In terms of customer service, Stefanie says they are dedicated to their clients and vice versa. “I have witnessed first-hand that when they’re not in the offices, their customers obviously miss them,” she says. It’s easy to see why, she says, highlighting one example featuring Jorge Richards. “Many of our staff check their work email after hours,” she said. “One evening, Jorge received a message from a long-time customer whose teenage daughter had started a job and needed an account in which to deposit her paycheck. “Having been given the heads up, Jorge expedited the process so that the daughter could receive her paycheck on time the next day,” Stefanie said.

Pandemic Was True Test

COVID-19 tested all businesses. But none more so than banks which, as the stewards of people’s money, represent security. “Early on when we had to close our offices to in-person visits, we realized people would be concerned about their ability to access their funds,” Stefanie said. Andy, Jorge, and Jennifer lead their staffs in helping familiarize their customers with online, mobile and drive-through banking. They also called clients just to check in to see how they were doing. And to support the local economy, they helped business customers apply for Payroll Protection Program loans. As a result, they and their colleagues across the bank helped businesses stay operational and retain more than 7,000 jobs.

Now that branches are open again, has anything changed in terms of customer service? “Like everyone else, we’re thrilled that the constraints have been lifted, but we won’t do anything differently than we did before,” Stefanie says. She said that staff will continue to go ‘over and above’ in serving customers, and added that Andy, Jorge and Jennifer epitomize that approach.