With nearly 40 years in the banking industry, Steve Heine, President and CEO of Woodsboro Bank, says, "With all of the mergers and different changes in the industry, I've been very fortunate always to have ended up with good organizations." He adds, "A few years ago, I decided I wanted to get back to my community. I began looking for opportunities in Frederick and was approached by a director from Woodsboro to interview for President and CEO. So, I put my hat in the ring!"
Woodsboro is truly a community bank. Steve says, "Many community banks like ours are working hard to stay independent. Our objective, our vision, is to be the best bank in central Maryland for our colleagues, clients, community and shareholders." Having celebrated its anniversary in May, the bank has been serving Frederick County for 121 years. Steve says, "There are a lot of community banks like us, that work for those same four stakeholder groups, but there are newer or start-up banks that are born out of the objective of eventually being sold. I work very hard to balance those four so that we can be independent and be the community bank."
These have been extraordinarily trying times in many ways, particularly with many suffering financial losses. Steve and the team at Woodsboro Bank have worked within the community to offer assistance as able. There were several ways that the bank could help during the quarantine. Steve says, "We are continuing to be proactive in our outreach to our clients to make sure they and their investments were and are safe," he says. Additionally, for those who requested it, the bank worked with clients to modify their loans, helping their cash flow over a 90-day period.
"Another thing we spent a tremendous amount of time on was helping small businesses. The federal government offered help to small business owners with the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program. It offered an SBA loan that could help businesses keep their workforce employed during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. In a matter of three weeks, we had gone from doing very little with the SBA to building an entire process that ultimately led to the approval of PPP loans for nearly 150 clients. This is a $349 billion program that the SBA put in place and are using banks as the conduit for the program," says Steve.
Steve has a big heart for the Frederick Community. He says, "It's important we all understand that this is temporary and have faith that this will end, and we will have a new normal. We need to work together, and by working together, we will be successful in this new normal. I center my life around family, friends, faith and community. What I love and appreciate about the Frederick community is how supportive businesses and the general public are. I see the community pulling together to get everyone through this as best as we can. It's this community culture of Frederick county that makes it an exceptional place to live."