Archive: Business & Technology

Since Tompkins County Bank was chartered in 1836 it has been embedded in the community.  Today knows as Tompkins Trust Company, will be celebrating it's 175th anniversary in events throughout the year and exhibits highlighting the bank's history in Tompkins and the surrounding counties.  It is obviously an accomplishment of pride to its employees, but also a milestone that prompts reflection on what the bank has meant to the community and how it will meet challenges in the future.

"I think it's a fantastic opportunity for people to really understand how rare it is for any organization to survive for 175 years," says Chief Executive Officer and President Greg Hartz.  "It's pretty rare.  There are entire industries that have come and gone in the time Tompkins Trust Company has been around.  I'm a firm believer that an active, engaged community bank is such an important part of the local community.  It's like the schools.  It provides such an important centerpiece for the community."

The actual birthday is in May, but the celebration will go on all year.  Hartz says that says the bank will focus on the 175th birthday in activities it participates in throughout the year.  These include the Chili Cookoff and Winterfest in February, Tompkins Financial's annual May meeting, the TTC Awards For Excellence presentation in May, the June Block Party on the Commons, Apple Harvest Festival in September, and throughout October for Customer Appreciation Month and the Business After Hours event the bank sponsors that month.  The bank has memorabilia that goes back to its origins in 1836 when it was called the 'Tompkins County Bank.'  Some of that will be on display at the bank, and a traveling exibit will be on display during the year.

Even though the company has grown considerably, a strong local outlook accounts for the Trust Company's continued success.  Hartz notes that despite the offshoot of its umbrella company, Tompkins Financial, expanded services, and the acquisition of the Bank of Castile and Mahopac National Bank, a local approach is key.  While the three banks share an economy of scale in how they provide electronic and other services, they operate independently in their own local markets.

"We purposely kept that structure in place, as opposed to a larger, regional kind of structure," Hartz says.  "It's fundamental to who we are as a company.  The difference is in how decisions are made and how connected you are to your local community.  That's what really defines a community bank.  You've got to have a sense of what's happening there and we have people on the ground who do.  When we're making loans in Auburn or Trumansburg or Cortland or at Triphammer, we are making those decisions here.  We make those decisions.  We know those markets.  We making loans whether they're business loans or personal loans.  They're done here and they're approved by our board of directors that oversees Tompkins Trust Company."

When the bank was initially chartered there was no central banking system.  Free banks issued their own bank notes backed by gold and silver coins, and the states individually regulated requirements for interest rates, the amount of capital a bank must have, and how much it must hold in reserve.  The Federal Reserve System wasn't imposed until 1913, and various events including 9/11 and the recent economic disaster have brought more and more regulation.  Hartz says a lot of that regulation has been good for consumers, but that much is a burden on community banks across the country that have done business responsibly.  He says better enforcement of existing rules is a better approach to avoiding future economic meltdowns.

"The Trust Company's history is one of being a very strong financial institution," Hartz says.  "When you're in the financial services industry it is only through strength and stability that you're able to sustain through those difficult times.  To be properly capitalized.  To have an emphasis on core business strategies.  To not be venturing into high risk/high return services.  The classic example of that in the current environment is subprime mortgages.  We didn't get involved in subprime mortgage lending."

He also complains that 'the banks' have been misleadingly portrayed in the media as irresponsible lenders or paying large commission incentives to subprime mortgage brokers.  He says that Tompkins Trust Company and its affiliate banks don't do that and says the banking industry across the country includes community banks like the Trust Company that have been responsible lenders within their communities.  He notes that Tompkins Trust offers historically favorable fixed-rate mortgages today, which is a boon to new buyers and homeowners seeking to refinance their homes.

"That's been another piece of misinformation that banks are not lending," he says.  "I can tell you that Tompkins Trust Company has continued to lend through this economic downturn.  In fact in the last couple of years we've had record levels of residential mortgages in our market."

Hartz is loath to characterize the company's steady financial position in hard times as a 'conservative' business approach.  He notes that Tompkins Trust has been a leader in implementing new technologies such as  Internet banking and remote deposit (in which companies scan checks they have received, making their bank deposits via their office computers rather than the bank or ATM).  Instead he attributes it to local people who know their market making decisions that benefit both the bank and the community itself.

"If conservative means knowing your market and lending to businesses and consumers who live and work in this community and for whom the risks that you're taking are better known as opposed to venturing out into riskier ventures," he says.  "But I think one of the things that is very important is how does any organization sustain itself for 175 years?  I believe it's all about making very, very good and calculated decisions about what we're going to have to be able to deliver tomorrow."

"I look at decisions sometimes and think how would people who come behind us look on those decisions.  (Chief Executive Officer of Tompkins Financial) Steve Romaine has asked what our kids would think if they were running this bank in 20 years and looked at decisions we made today?  I think that's a great question," Hartz says.  "We're stewards of this bank for a relatively short period of time.  It is truly my hope that 25 years from now I'll be reading about Tompkins Trust's 200th birthday.  I want to make sure that every one of us in this company is making the decisions and doing the things today that will allow for that to happen."


Those decisions stress long term planning, rather than a focus on dramatic quarterly  profits.  The company culture remains well aware of its core values while growing and innovating within its market.  That becomes clear as Hartz reflects on what will be the same and what will be different over the next 175 years.

"I think it's safe to say that more and more business will be facilitated by electronic means.  We've already seen a tremendous shift in that," he says.  "At the same time I still believe that people will always do business with people.  There will be professionals in advisory services that people will always look to.  Will we be doing as many transactions at the teller line?  Will there be a teller line?  Who knows.  Will there be people doing business with people?  I believe that there will be."

That commitment to people in the community is one of the company's six core values, as well as its mission statement.  Hartz says there is an expectation that employees will be involved in the community in some way, especially company officers.  The Trust Company does business in primarily Tompkins, Cayuga, Cortland and Schuyler Counties, which he says is a reasonably sized community to do business in while keeping track of what is going on by getting involved and attending local events.

"We are tremendously committed to the communities that we're in.  We do a lot to support the arts and community services, not just in money.  If you work here, and particularly if you're an officer of the company there is an expectation that you'll be involved in the community in some way.  What's good for the community is good for the bank and what's good for the bank is good for the community.  We believe the overall strength of this community is good for everyone.  The bank is an economic hub in the community so we're very committed to making sure that we try to support the community in a meaningful way."

Seeing the bank as a key piece of the community is different from simply 'giving back' to the community.  Bank employees and officials get to know their market better because they know the people who make it up.  That enables them to do better business by providing what community members want.  While the bank is continuously generous in supporting local arts and social initiatives, the human touch maximizes the benefit of doing that for both the recipients and the bank.

"I run into people at Wegmans or Tops or wherever I might be," Hartz says.  "I see them in the aisles and they ask me questions and I know what they're doing.  There's a familiarity with what's happening, and that allows us to make better decisions."

Locally Tompkins Financial, Tompkins Trust Company, Tompkins Insurance Agencies, Tompkins Financial Advisors employ about 305 people.  Across the entire company including Bank of Castile and Mahopac National Bank there are about 800 employees.  Hartz says the milestone is an opportunity for those employees to reflect on what has brought them to this point, and how it will guide them in the future.

"I'm a firm believer that an active, engaged community bank is such an important part of the local community," he says.  "What would it be like if we weren't here?  It really makes me think about the people who have walked here before and the things they did to make the organization what it is today.  So what are we doing today to make sure that we're here in another 175 years?  Maybe that is the most important thing that it does."

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