April 2013
| Business World Magazine | 333
the right real estate opportunities, but we
can’t focus the whole bank on that segment,
those days are over.”
To complement practical awareness,
Kramer says his team also achieved unifor-
mity in certain philosophical understand-
ing, which is communicated today in a pur-
pose statement that undergirds all efforts of
the institution. “We are a bank that genuine-
ly cares about the people and the communi-
ties we serve…we genuinely believe our bank
makes a difference in the lives of individu-
als… and if our communities are doing well,
our bank is doing well.”
Therefore, the bank believes it is duty
bound to effectively deploy capital and make
credit available in such a way to better the
functioning of business, which in turn, helps
make for a more prosperous community and
the quality of life experienced by its citizens.
Having embraced a new identity, new
leadership team and restored mission to
serve the community, Kramer says the next
step was determining whether or not they
were equippedwith all the tools needed.This
required more work, including an entire core
systems conversion. Staff underwent new
training, new services were offered which
