First Federal Bank opens Mt. Hope office
The leadership team at First Federal Bank celebrates the ribbon-cutting grand opening on Thursday, Sept. 5 at the Mt. Hope office.
Community banks are instrumental to the success of Holmes County communities, and recently, Holmes County celebrated another addition into the banking fold.
On Thursday, Sept. 5, a large contingent of people poured into the new banking facility at First Federal Bank in Mt. Hope to celebrate the business’ ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Trent Troyer, president and chief executive officer of First Federal Bank, said being a part of each community is important to the bank because the area is built on communities.
He said Mt. Hope was an area that had been on the company’s radar for a while prior to it moving into the former FC Bank right across the road from the new banking facility.
“We started (in Holmes County) in Berlin, and we had great success there, but we felt we needed another presence in Holmes County,” Troyer said. “The folks we had working in Berlin felt like this would be a great location. We have a vested interested in every community we are in, and we have to be invested in these communities where we live and work.”
Matt Miller, First Federal senior vice president and chief lending officer, said being invested in the community and its people is of vital importance.
“We pride ourselves on being a community bank, and we love the unique parts of Holmes County, and particularly Mt. Hope,” Miller said. “We have been wanting to create a new space here to better serve our loyal customers for a while, and this space is ideal in serving their needs. We feel it’s important to give back to the customers and people who have put their trust in us.”
In 2015 First Federal executives approached FC Bank about the purchase of their office. The initial response was negative, but a trip to FC Bank’s headquarters in Pennsylvania proved to be more fruitful.
May of 2017 saw First Federal move into those offices, with an eye still on building a new stand-alone facility.
However, land is difficult to find in Mt. Hope, but eventually, the bank connected with Trent Yoder of Mrs. Yoder’s Restaurant and reached an agreement that would allow them to build a new banking facility that met their specific needs.
Yoder said they were pleased to see another community-oriented company added to the growth taking place in Mt. Hope.
“Little by little things continue to get better and better in Mt. Hope,” Yoder said. “We’re excited to provide a home for a quality company that we know is committed to being here for the long haul.”
Holmes County Chamber & Tourism Executive Director Tiffany Gerber provided the introductions to the event and was thrilled to add another business to the Holmes County community.
Gerber introduced all the key players from First Federal and the board members and employees at the bank before turning the microphone over to Troyer.
“We are truly honored to be here and to be a trusted financial partner of Holmes County and Mt. Nope,” Troyer said. “We’re thrilled to be able to serve in this state-of-the-art facility. Our team wanted to make sure we had a facility that fit in with the Mt. Hope community, and we believe this does.”
He expressed high praise for the staff, who will see people on an everyday basis, noting they will provide professional service to customers.
“We are looking forward to being your bank and trusted partner in Mt. Hope,” Troyer said.
First Federal Bank is located at 7790 County Road 77 in Mt. Hope.