January 19, 2024 • 14 mins
Mark Masters is the President and CEO of Mechanics Bank, which has 9 locations in Richland County. Mark has been in the role for the last 8 years, and overall, has been with the company for 23 years. Mechanics has 160 employees and has plans to build a location in Ashland County, which could open in 2025. Masters was born in Mansfield, attended Lucas High School and is a graduate of Bowling Green State University. Mark and his wife have 5 children and 19 grandchildren. Learn more about Mechanics, and Mark Masters, on the podcast.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
The CEO you should know. Broughtto you by Roby Foster Miller Eric Insurance.
This week's CEO, Mark Masters,President and CEO of Mechanics Bank.
First of all, thank you forcoming in today. How you doing,
Aeron. It's great to see you. Thanks so much for the invitation.
I'm doing well. Thanks Kit,I haven't seen you in a little while.
(00:22):
I'm glad to hear that. Allright, So for people who do
not know, let's kind of startat the beginning. Mechanics has been in
this area for a long long time. Could you give us a little history?
I certainly will. Mechanics an independentand locally owned bank. We've been
in the community, if you canbelieve it, since eighteen eighty six.
(00:42):
We have nine offices in Richland Countyand we're very excited. In twenty twenty
four, we hope to begin constructionin our first office in Ashland County.
So we are excited about the potential. We have a lot of Ashland customers
who've asked us to come closer tothem, and we will be in the
(01:03):
very near future. That is excitingnews. I had not heard about that.
Hey, anytime you're growing, that'sawesome, right, all right,
terrific. So you mentioned all thebranches here locally within Richland County. You've
been here for a long time.But let's find out a bit more about
you. So I say, presidentand CEO. How long have you been
in that role. I've been inthat role for a little over eight years.
(01:27):
Been with the bank approximately twenty threeyears. All right, So what
was the first job at Mechanics AndI know you've worked your way up to
talk about to start and maybe differentdifferent titles you've had over the years.
Well, I came to Mechanics asone of the senior vice presidents and then
worked up from there. But Istarted my career earlier at what was then
(01:49):
the Trust Court Bank, which laterbecame Key Bank, and started there in
commercial banking. And that's really thegenesis of my banking career. And I've
had great experiences in Mansfield and RichlandCounty. I'm just so thankful for the
opportunities I've had here close to home. All Right, terrific Again the voice
this morning, Mark Masters Again heis this week's CEO. You should know,
(02:14):
President and CEO of Mechanics Bank.So you mentioned, you know,
lots of branches in Richland County.You're going to branch out into Ashland County.
My next question was going to be, so not all the people that
bank with you, guys, arefrom Richland County, right, it goes
outside of the county then, Oh, absolutely, we have many many customers
that are residents of particularly contiguous countiesto Richland, and even further so our
(02:39):
business which typically those customers are mortgagecustomers, residential home mortgage customers who've heard
about Mechanics products and have come tosee if we can help them. All.
Right, now, how many employeesyou have a lot of branches,
roughly how many people work forms?We have approximately one hundred and sixty employees
(03:02):
that work for the bank. Mynext question would be are you looking for
good people? Oh, we're alwayslooking for great people, and actually our
people are what distinguishes us from otherfinancial institutions in our opinion. Of course,
we have great people, We havegreat opportunities. The bank is growing,
(03:23):
and one of the things we're veryproud of is very often when we
promote, we promote from within,so people get their start at Mechanics and
they can spend a career there andhave wonderful opportunities over a career a lifetime.
But yes, we're looking for goodpeople, particularly in the customer service
(03:46):
representative positions. Often they're called tellers. But there's always openings, it seems
like, and we welcome anyone tocome and apply either in person or over
our website at my Mechanic stock Allright, that was my question. How
do you apply in person or againmy mechanics dot com great website. I
was on there just a few minutesago. Again, we're visiting this morning.
(04:08):
We're going to find out a bitmore about him. Mark Masters,
president CEO of Mechanics Bank. Let'sgo back, if people don't know,
to the beginning and tell us wherewas Mark Masters born. Well, I
was born here in Mansfield. WhenI was about five years old, my
family moved to rural Richland County inthe Lucas School District and that's where I
(04:33):
went to school and graduated high school. Then met my future wife in high
school. Our children went to Lucasschools. I went on then to Bowling
Green State University where I was ableto study and get my degree, and
then moved back to Mansfield to starta career. So it's been, as
(04:53):
I said earlier, just wonderful formy family and I to be here in
Richland County and enjoy men many opportunities, all right, a cub and then
a Falcon, Yes, absolutely right, good deal. Now, as you
were growing up going to high schoolat Lucas Bowling Green State University, did
you know you wanted to get intobanking? You know finances all that.
I mean, walk us through goingto high school. What were the aspirations
(05:15):
and what led you down this path? Well, in some respects, I've
referred to myself as the accidental bankpresident because I had never set my site
on a position like this. I'mvery, very blessed to have that opportunity.
But I did go to college andhad a accounting major. So when
I came back to Mansfield, Istarted at a local accounting firm known as
(05:40):
Kissel and Associates and spent five yearsthere. Their five great years, learned
a lot, met lots of wonderfulpeople, and then I started into banking.
So no, I didn't always havemy site set on banking. But
since joining that first bank, I'vejust found a home in financial serviss that
(06:00):
it is just a great place towork. It's a balance of both in
my case, an opportunity to usetechnical skills, my analytical side, as
well as interacting with people every day. And we have wonderful people here in
our community that I've come to knowand love. All Right, well,
markle, let's find out a bitmore about you. You mentioned family earlier,
(06:23):
so tell us a little more aboutMark and the family. Oh well,
thank you for asking, Aaron.We just have a wonderful family.
We have five children who are allmarried, and believe it or not,
we have our nineteenth grandchild on theway, so we enjoy a large family.
We try to get together while wecan. We have two of our
(06:44):
children who and their families who stilllive in Richland County. The other three
children are in Ohio but not herein Richland County. So really everyone's close
and we spend a lot of timetogether. My next question was going to
be spare times. I'm sure that'syou know, you mention grandkids and all
that, But when you're not working, do you have any hobbies? What
(07:05):
do you do away from work?So when I think of hobbies, Erin,
First of all, I have tomention I'm very active in my church
family, so we spend a lotof time, wonderful time in church and
with church activities. I love tohike beyond the outdoors. I kind of
have an amateur photography interest, soI do that when I can. But
(07:30):
it's a very busy life, sothere's there's not a lot of time for
hobbies. All right. Well itsounds good, sounds like you enjoy what
you do. All right, Well, Mark, I want to get back
to work for just a few moreminutes before we let you go. Be
a great conversation this morning. MarkMasters in studio this morning. He's the
president and CEO of Mechanics Bank.This week's CEO. You should know I
(07:50):
like to ask people kind of whatsets them apart in terms of you guys,
make you know what makes Mechanics special. If somebody is out there there
looking for a bank, you knowthat what makes Mechanics special. Well,
Aaron, I appreciate your question.I mentioned earlier that Mechanics is a locally
owned, independent bank, but wecompete with some of the largest financial institutions
(08:15):
in the country, and in somerespects financial services can be a commodity business.
You can get a loan at anybank, but we think at Mechanics
the way we approach our business isfirst to look at what is best for
our customers. We try to seethings through our customer's eyes and reach them
(08:37):
in a way that reduces any anxietythey have about banking, especially you know,
buying a home or financing a home. It's one of the largest financial
transactions in most people's lives. Itcan be quite a nervous time for them.
So we have people right here thatyou can talk to who take their
(09:01):
time and their interview and get toknow you as a person. We like
to think they form great relationships.So the bottom line is we think we
make an incredible difference with our people. You know, every business talks about
customer service Aaron at Mechanics, welike to talk about customer satisfaction. That's
(09:22):
when you are satisfied as a customer, and we work hard to make sure
that we exceed our customers expectations,so that whether they're depositing of payroll check,
whether they're opening an account for ayoungster or obtaining a loan, that
we do our best to satisfy theirneeds and even exceed them. I was
(09:46):
on your website again, my Mechanicsdot com. We're visiting again with the
president and CEO of Mechanics Bank,Mark Masters, Do you guys have a
lot of programs I saw I thinkkids maybe thirteen age range, but a
lot of programs and they should headyour website and check them out right.
We certainly do, depending on thesituation the age. We have everything from
our Watch It Grow account, whichis kind of fashion for young children.
(10:09):
It's kind of an exciting thing forthe kids. They get to come in
and oh there's some activities, rollsome dice, get some extra money to
deposit on their birthdays, some funthings all the way through every time of
life, every generation, all theway to our Good Life program, who
has thousands of members. They dolots of different activities, trips. Those
(10:33):
trips happen to be both local inOhio and actually international. So yes,
we have a very many different programs. We have business banking, we have
trust and investment services. It runsthe whole gamut of financial services. Last
(10:54):
thing I wanted to bring up,Mark's been a great conversation with you today.
You know everybody's on the go now, you know mobile bank, you
think about from your phone, allof that, so I know you guys
have the latest in terms of technology. But also security is a very big
thing as well. Absolutely, Actuallysecurity is the thing today because everything we
(11:15):
do we have in mind how toprotect our customer's information. You know,
generations ago, Aaron, when peoplethought of security surrounding banks, they thought
of bank vaults and the money behindthe vault door, and they wanted to
keep their money safe. And ofcourse it's still important to keep the money
(11:35):
that we have secure, But themost vulnerable part today in anyone's life is
their personal information. So we workvery hard. We consistently invest significant amounts
of capital in making sure our technologyand the security of our technology is at
(11:58):
the forefront, and we do allwe can to make sure that our customers
can rest confidently that we protect theirinformation. All right, last thing I
want to bring up. If somebodyhears you speak, they want more information
about Mechanics, maybe they want toapply for a job, maybe they just
have a question. They can reachout to you. How what's the best
(12:20):
way to get a hold of somebodyat Mechanics. Well, of course they
can call. We have real peoplebelieve it or not answered the phone at
Mechanics, and we have we're veryproud of our Answering Center, which consists
of a lot of employees who cananswer any question you have on your mind.
But we also have our website,Mymechanics dot com. We love to
(12:43):
have you stop in and see usat any of our nine offices soon to
be ten as I mentioned earlier,and if I can help you, I'm
available for a phone call, aemail message and would love to chat with
any of our community members. Allright, lot of great things happening with
Mechanics. He mentioned a brand newone come at Ashland County here soon.
(13:05):
Do we have any details? Willit be will it be open sometime in
twenty four Is that accurate? Ordo we not know exactly right now?
We don't know exactly right now.We're in the design phase of the building,
so you know, depending on howthat all comes together. If I
was to say, I would guessit probably would be early twenty twenty five.
All right, So as soon aswe get some more concrete information,
(13:28):
we'll be in contact with you toshare more of that great news. Thank
you, all right, our CEOyou should know this week, Mark Masters,
President and CEO of Mechanics Bank.Well, it's been great to learn
about you. Great to have youback in and We wish you continued success.
Thank you, Erin. It's alwaysgreat to visit and we appreciate your
interest in our business. Mark Masters, President and CEO of Mechanics Bank,
(13:54):
the CEO you should know, reada bio, see a photo, and
here the extended interview at wm An f M dot com. This is
John Roby of RFME Insurance. Itis said that a good leader sets the
bar high because he or she wantsto reach goals and make the best of
their teams. We are proud tointroduce you to some of the community's leaders
on the CEO series
The CEO you should know. Broughtto you by Roby Foster Miller Eric Insurance.
This week's CEO, Mark Masters,President and CEO of Mechanics Bank.
First of all, thank you forcoming in today. How you doing,
Aeron. It's great to see you. Thanks so much for the invitation.
I'm doing well. Thanks Kit,I haven't seen you in a little while.
(00:22):
I'm glad to hear that. Allright, So for people who do
not know, let's kind of startat the beginning. Mechanics has been in
this area for a long long time. Could you give us a little history?
I certainly will. Mechanics an independentand locally owned bank. We've been
in the community, if you canbelieve it, since eighteen eighty six.
(00:42):
We have nine offices in Richland Countyand we're very excited. In twenty twenty
four, we hope to begin constructionin our first office in Ashland County.
So we are excited about the potential. We have a lot of Ashland customers
who've asked us to come closer tothem, and we will be in the
(01:03):
very near future. That is excitingnews. I had not heard about that.
Hey, anytime you're growing, that'sawesome, right, all right,
terrific. So you mentioned all thebranches here locally within Richland County. You've
been here for a long time.But let's find out a bit more about
you. So I say, presidentand CEO. How long have you been
in that role. I've been inthat role for a little over eight years.
(01:27):
Been with the bank approximately twenty threeyears. All right, So what
was the first job at Mechanics AndI know you've worked your way up to
talk about to start and maybe differentdifferent titles you've had over the years.
Well, I came to Mechanics asone of the senior vice presidents and then
worked up from there. But Istarted my career earlier at what was then
(01:49):
the Trust Court Bank, which laterbecame Key Bank, and started there in
commercial banking. And that's really thegenesis of my banking career. And I've
had great experiences in Mansfield and RichlandCounty. I'm just so thankful for the
opportunities I've had here close to home. All Right, terrific Again the voice
this morning, Mark Masters Again heis this week's CEO. You should know,
(02:14):
President and CEO of Mechanics Bank.So you mentioned, you know,
lots of branches in Richland County.You're going to branch out into Ashland County.
My next question was going to be, so not all the people that
bank with you, guys, arefrom Richland County, right, it goes
outside of the county then, Oh, absolutely, we have many many customers
that are residents of particularly contiguous countiesto Richland, and even further so our
(02:39):
business which typically those customers are mortgagecustomers, residential home mortgage customers who've heard
about Mechanics products and have come tosee if we can help them. All.
Right, now, how many employeesyou have a lot of branches,
roughly how many people work forms?We have approximately one hundred and sixty employees
(03:02):
that work for the bank. Mynext question would be are you looking for
good people? Oh, we're alwayslooking for great people, and actually our
people are what distinguishes us from otherfinancial institutions in our opinion. Of course,
we have great people, We havegreat opportunities. The bank is growing,
(03:23):
and one of the things we're veryproud of is very often when we
promote, we promote from within,so people get their start at Mechanics and
they can spend a career there andhave wonderful opportunities over a career a lifetime.
But yes, we're looking for goodpeople, particularly in the customer service
(03:46):
representative positions. Often they're called tellers. But there's always openings, it seems
like, and we welcome anyone tocome and apply either in person or over
our website at my Mechanic stock Allright, that was my question. How
do you apply in person or againmy mechanics dot com great website. I
was on there just a few minutesago. Again, we're visiting this morning.
(04:08):
We're going to find out a bitmore about him. Mark Masters,
president CEO of Mechanics Bank. Let'sgo back, if people don't know,
to the beginning and tell us wherewas Mark Masters born. Well, I
was born here in Mansfield. WhenI was about five years old, my
family moved to rural Richland County inthe Lucas School District and that's where I
(04:33):
went to school and graduated high school. Then met my future wife in high
school. Our children went to Lucasschools. I went on then to Bowling
Green State University where I was ableto study and get my degree, and
then moved back to Mansfield to starta career. So it's been, as
(04:53):
I said earlier, just wonderful formy family and I to be here in
Richland County and enjoy men many opportunities, all right, a cub and then
a Falcon, Yes, absolutely right, good deal. Now, as you
were growing up going to high schoolat Lucas Bowling Green State University, did
you know you wanted to get intobanking? You know finances all that.
I mean, walk us through goingto high school. What were the aspirations
(05:15):
and what led you down this path? Well, in some respects, I've
referred to myself as the accidental bankpresident because I had never set my site
on a position like this. I'mvery, very blessed to have that opportunity.
But I did go to college andhad a accounting major. So when
I came back to Mansfield, Istarted at a local accounting firm known as
(05:40):
Kissel and Associates and spent five yearsthere. Their five great years, learned
a lot, met lots of wonderfulpeople, and then I started into banking.
So no, I didn't always havemy site set on banking. But
since joining that first bank, I'vejust found a home in financial serviss that
(06:00):
it is just a great place towork. It's a balance of both in
my case, an opportunity to usetechnical skills, my analytical side, as
well as interacting with people every day. And we have wonderful people here in
our community that I've come to knowand love. All Right, well,
markle, let's find out a bitmore about you. You mentioned family earlier,
(06:23):
so tell us a little more aboutMark and the family. Oh well,
thank you for asking, Aaron.We just have a wonderful family.
We have five children who are allmarried, and believe it or not,
we have our nineteenth grandchild on theway, so we enjoy a large family.
We try to get together while wecan. We have two of our
(06:44):
children who and their families who stilllive in Richland County. The other three
children are in Ohio but not herein Richland County. So really everyone's close
and we spend a lot of timetogether. My next question was going to
be spare times. I'm sure that'syou know, you mention grandkids and all
that, But when you're not working, do you have any hobbies? What
(07:05):
do you do away from work?So when I think of hobbies, Erin,
First of all, I have tomention I'm very active in my church
family, so we spend a lotof time, wonderful time in church and
with church activities. I love tohike beyond the outdoors. I kind of
have an amateur photography interest, soI do that when I can. But
(07:30):
it's a very busy life, sothere's there's not a lot of time for
hobbies. All right. Well itsounds good, sounds like you enjoy what
you do. All right, Well, Mark, I want to get back
to work for just a few moreminutes before we let you go. Be
a great conversation this morning. MarkMasters in studio this morning. He's the
president and CEO of Mechanics Bank.This week's CEO. You should know I
(07:50):
like to ask people kind of whatsets them apart in terms of you guys,
make you know what makes Mechanics special. If somebody is out there there
looking for a bank, you knowthat what makes Mechanics special. Well,
Aaron, I appreciate your question.I mentioned earlier that Mechanics is a locally
owned, independent bank, but wecompete with some of the largest financial institutions
(08:15):
in the country, and in somerespects financial services can be a commodity business.
You can get a loan at anybank, but we think at Mechanics
the way we approach our business isfirst to look at what is best for
our customers. We try to seethings through our customer's eyes and reach them
(08:37):
in a way that reduces any anxietythey have about banking, especially you know,
buying a home or financing a home. It's one of the largest financial
transactions in most people's lives. Itcan be quite a nervous time for them.
So we have people right here thatyou can talk to who take their
(09:01):
time and their interview and get toknow you as a person. We like
to think they form great relationships.So the bottom line is we think we
make an incredible difference with our people. You know, every business talks about
customer service Aaron at Mechanics, welike to talk about customer satisfaction. That's
(09:22):
when you are satisfied as a customer, and we work hard to make sure
that we exceed our customers expectations,so that whether they're depositing of payroll check,
whether they're opening an account for ayoungster or obtaining a loan, that
we do our best to satisfy theirneeds and even exceed them. I was
(09:46):
on your website again, my Mechanicsdot com. We're visiting again with the
president and CEO of Mechanics Bank,Mark Masters, Do you guys have a
lot of programs I saw I thinkkids maybe thirteen age range, but a
lot of programs and they should headyour website and check them out right.
We certainly do, depending on thesituation the age. We have everything from
our Watch It Grow account, whichis kind of fashion for young children.
(10:09):
It's kind of an exciting thing forthe kids. They get to come in
and oh there's some activities, rollsome dice, get some extra money to
deposit on their birthdays, some funthings all the way through every time of
life, every generation, all theway to our Good Life program, who
has thousands of members. They dolots of different activities, trips. Those
(10:33):
trips happen to be both local inOhio and actually international. So yes,
we have a very many different programs. We have business banking, we have
trust and investment services. It runsthe whole gamut of financial services. Last
(10:54):
thing I wanted to bring up,Mark's been a great conversation with you today.
You know everybody's on the go now, you know mobile bank, you
think about from your phone, allof that, so I know you guys
have the latest in terms of technology. But also security is a very big
thing as well. Absolutely, Actuallysecurity is the thing today because everything we
(11:15):
do we have in mind how toprotect our customer's information. You know,
generations ago, Aaron, when peoplethought of security surrounding banks, they thought
of bank vaults and the money behindthe vault door, and they wanted to
keep their money safe. And ofcourse it's still important to keep the money
(11:35):
that we have secure, But themost vulnerable part today in anyone's life is
their personal information. So we workvery hard. We consistently invest significant amounts
of capital in making sure our technologyand the security of our technology is at
(11:58):
the forefront, and we do allwe can to make sure that our customers
can rest confidently that we protect theirinformation. All right, last thing I
want to bring up. If somebodyhears you speak, they want more information
about Mechanics, maybe they want toapply for a job, maybe they just
have a question. They can reachout to you. How what's the best
(12:20):
way to get a hold of somebodyat Mechanics. Well, of course they
can call. We have real peoplebelieve it or not answered the phone at
Mechanics, and we have we're veryproud of our Answering Center, which consists
of a lot of employees who cananswer any question you have on your mind.
But we also have our website,Mymechanics dot com. We love to
(12:43):
have you stop in and see usat any of our nine offices soon to
be ten as I mentioned earlier,and if I can help you, I'm
available for a phone call, aemail message and would love to chat with
any of our community members. Allright, lot of great things happening with
Mechanics. He mentioned a brand newone come at Ashland County here soon.
(13:05):
Do we have any details? Willit be will it be open sometime in
twenty four Is that accurate? Ordo we not know exactly right now?
We don't know exactly right now.We're in the design phase of the building,
so you know, depending on howthat all comes together. If I
was to say, I would guessit probably would be early twenty twenty five.
All right, So as soon aswe get some more concrete information,
(13:28):
we'll be in contact with you toshare more of that great news. Thank
you, all right, our CEOyou should know this week, Mark Masters,
President and CEO of Mechanics Bank.Well, it's been great to learn
about you. Great to have youback in and We wish you continued success.
Thank you, Erin. It's alwaysgreat to visit and we appreciate your
interest in our business. Mark Masters, President and CEO of Mechanics Bank,
(13:54):
the CEO you should know, reada bio, see a photo, and
here the extended interview at wm An f M dot com. This is
John Roby of RFME Insurance. Itis said that a good leader sets the
bar high because he or she wantsto reach goals and make the best of
their teams. We are proud tointroduce you to some of the community's leaders
on the CEO series
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