By Jay McKenna, President and Chief Operating Officer

Every spring, the bank’s senior management team sits down for several all-day sessions to construct our strategic plan. During these sessions, many things are examined: current and potential environmental conditions, threats, opportunities, strengths, and weaknesses. The goal is to set a strategic course for the bank over the next three years. The plan becomes a guidepost when we set more immediate goals for the coming year. Here are some of the key takeaways from this year’s process.

In establishing the foundation of the planning process, we revisited some key statements underlying who we are.

Vision
Our vision is to distinguish ourselves as knowledgeable, trusted advisors recognized for superior service in and for our community.

Mission
Our mission is to prosper as an independent community-minded bank by building long-term relationships through crafting and delivering solutions to meet customer needs and goals.

Values

• We believe in holding ourselves to the highest standards of moral and ethical conduct.
• We believe in treating everyone with respect and integrity.
• We are people of our word.
• We believe that customer satisfaction is the essence of our success.
• We help people realize their dreams.
• We fulfill customer expectations in a safe and sound manner.

After establishing this foundation and then evaluating internal and external factors, we set long-strategic initiatives, summarized as follows:

• Continued relationship growth, including portfolio growth, in our commercial banking lines (business and real estate)
• Continued organic growth in our mortgage and consumer lending portfolios
• Acquire, expand, and retain customer relationships in our retail system.
• Embrace and deliver technology securely to our customers.
• Strengthen our brand.
• Continue to focus on efficiency.
• Ensure our team is fully engaged in where we are going as a bank.

This is a very brief nutshell of the plan. We are not exactly looking to reinvent the mousetrap. Rather, we are looking to grow, build, and expand upon the very successful foundation that exists today. By sharing this, you gain some understanding of our high-level priorities and direction.