Community, Connections, & Commerce Episode 16 with Todd Cover

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:20):
The most, Drake Watson along the way, Wendy NFN is
always one week.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Good morning, Good morning, Drake, how are you all.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
I'm especially good this morning, especially because we have special
guests Todd Cover on with us this morning, President and
CEO of Belmont Savings Bank, Todd, we really appreciate you
carving out the time out of your day to come
speak to us, and we're looking forward to a great
conversation with you.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Yeah, sure, no problem. It's always always find to catch
up with Wendy and good to meet you, Drake, So
looking forward to it.

Speaker 4 (00:45):
Well, we'll start with with the same question we kind
of ask all our guests as kind of you know
who you are a little bit about yourself and how
you got to where you are.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Now that's a loaded question. Uh Well, I'm Tadcover. So
I grew up and Wheeling. I actually went to Brook
High School. My parents were both teachers in Ohio County,
which is you know, Wheeling area. They were both teachers
in the county system. So we actually lived in Brook
County right across the border at the bottom the Airport
Hill where I grew up. So you know, my parents,

(01:16):
my sister and I went sent us to they sent
us to Brook County Schools. So I graduated from Brook
High School in nineteen ninety four, then went on to
play baseball at Davison Elkins for two years and finished
up playing baseball and going to school at West Liberty
now West Liberty University. Graduated there in nineteen ninety eight.
Had a couple of contacts, and you know one of
the one of those contacts Jim Croft. You know he's

(01:40):
Mike Coward if you know Mike Coward through the Chambers,
actually was his father in law for a long time.
He was a good family friend. Yeah. He got me
into into banking, specific specifically with the West Virginia State
Bankers Association. I was a bank examinateur there for about
three and a half to four years and then was
actually lucky enough to get on with Rich Lucas and

(02:02):
Bruce Wilson down at Main Street Bank, where I worked
for about ten years. At that time they were Donovo Bank,
which is which is a new fancy term for a
new bank. They had just started in two thousand and one.
I joined them in two thousand and four, so stayed
there till about twenty twelve. Did a couple commercial lending
jobs at some other institutions around the valley. So you know,

(02:26):
got this opportunity with Beaumont Savings started in December of
twenty fifteen as CEO and training was actually what I
was hired for. Current president CEO at the time was
Tom Poe. He ended up passing away in February of
twenty sixteen, so my you know, what was going to
be twelve to eighteen month training window was cut down

(02:47):
to two months, so you know, it is what it was.
There's a a lot of good people along the way
that you know, have helped me, you know, kind of
helped build this thing up at Belmont Savings. And you know,
we've hired, been fortunate to hire a lot of good
people with a lot of good people that have been
with us for a while. So that's kind of the
background story on it. I've been there. It'll be nine

(03:08):
years in December, so it's a good time. We have
fun at the bank, you know, good culture. So it's
it's a job I don't foresee myself looking to leave.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
So you are very local. What I mean is you
support the local community everywhere.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
Yeah, you know, and that's for me, that's the kind
of the essence of community banking is, you know, give
back to the communities that serve us or that we serve.
You know, those people that you know bank with us
and give us their trust and financial relationships. We try
to give back, you know, and that means whether it's
the schools, it's the local clubs and organizations, the you know,

(03:46):
the football teams, the baseball teams, or any sports team.
You know, it is our job as as a community
bank to give back to those communities and try to
help those people develop as well. You know, I'm in
a fortunate position now. I always say to give back
to those people that helped me along the way. So
you know, we've been a big partner with a bunch

(04:06):
of numerous charities you know. Uh they're up and down
the river actually, and not just a community to serve,
but you know, up and down the area. So as
you know, Wendy, we're pretty involved. And you know, for us,
it's not just about donating money, it's about donating time
as well, and we like to be involved with the
projects that we support and not just throw a check
at them. So I think that's where we're a little

(04:27):
bit different than some of the other banks. You know,
my parents and my mom specifically tells me, you guys
are everywhere. I'm tired of seeing you, and you are.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
And I noticed that in what you just said there.
When you do, when you back a project, a community
baseball game or a fundraiser or something, you have an
entourage of people that show up, from tellers to bank managers,
you know, and yourself and your you know, your executive.

Speaker 3 (04:59):
Stat Yeah, you all show up. Yeah, And that's kind
of what, you know again, what makes us a little
bit different. We're actually you know, we actually pay people
to go to those events. That's how important it is
to us, as you know, for me and from executive
management all the way down to you know, every person
in any organization. You know, I don't you know the
people around you. Hopefully they can tell you. I don't

(05:20):
think of myself as any being any better than anyone,
so you know, I could consider myself one of our
fifty nine employees. And you know that's kind of the
way we operate. So you know, it's no, it's not
an uncommon occurrence to see me, you know, at any event,
you know, helping out as any way I can. Again,
I'm a fortunate position to be where I'm at, but

(05:40):
I haven't got there without help along the way. So again,
if we can, we can help out and give back
to those communities that we serve, you know, that's kind
of our goal.

Speaker 2 (05:50):
So the one thing I'm interested in. You said, you hire,
You have a bunch of people that you've hired. What
do you look for in a person who is going
to apply to for your bank?

Speaker 3 (06:06):
It's easy, Uh, you know, we have a we have
the kind of the you know, the core, the core
the core qualifications or you know, the core things we
look for. And you know, the first thing for me
is trust. You know, I got to be able to
trust you. That's number one across the board. And I
think anyone that's ever dealt with me or knows me

(06:26):
knows that is one hundred percent the first thing I
look for in people. Loyalty, you know, the willingness to
help out, you know, great character. Obviously experience helps, you know,
but at the same time, you know, I think it's
the core values that we emphasize at the bank or
really trust, loyalty, willingness to help and you know.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
Good character, And you're right, you have the educator, you
can somebody can be taught how to do the banking
procedures or the job at hand, but you can't teach personality.
You can't teach loyalty. That just and I think that
is something that you guys really pride yourself in because
at every branch that I've been to, it's the same,

(07:11):
it's the same mentality.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
Well, yeah, I appreciate that when I think that, you know,
what makes us different is our people. And we've been
very fortunate, you know, through COVID, through you know everything,
and the you know, the economy not being as strong
as it has been, we've been fortunate. We've had i'd
say you probably average employee for us has been there

(07:33):
seven to eight years. Wow. Yeah, So it's just we
don't have a lot of turnover. Knock on wood. Uh.
You know, hopefully that doesn't change tomorrow, because I just
said that. It doesn't jinx myself.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
But that also says a lot to you and your
staff for retaining those employees because you actually feed them
the support that they need. Because you just anybody can
go to a job and just work, but it's the
executive management that feed those people that they want to

(08:03):
stay and they want to bring on their friends. So
I think that you guys have done an amazing job
with that.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, and again I appreciate that. I think culture has
been one of the things when when I first started,
culture is one of the things that probably needed to
address most. You know, when I took over, I always
caught us kind of a sleepy bank. You know, we
were we were size wise, pretty decent size as far
as asset size concerned. But I don't think a whole
lot of people knew about us. You know, that was
the first thing we had to change. You know, we

(08:29):
did a lot of branding, We did a lot of
you know, like I said, change in culture. And that's
just making it a more more enjoyable place to work.
You know. I know with a lot of people that uh,
you know, you're sitting there on Sunday night and you're like,
oh gosh, I gotta get up and go to work tomorrow.
Like I don't want anyone at Belmont Savings feeling that way. Again,
it's it's a job, so that it's necessary. Evil you

(08:51):
got to you know, you got to provide for your family.
But at the same time, I don't want people to
you know, be fearful of getting up Monday morning or
whatever morning and going to work. So if we can
help build that in a culture. And we do a
lot from employees too, you know, I don't want that
to go unnoticed. You know. We we try to provide,
like you said, to support for him.

Speaker 4 (09:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
We do a lot of fun things at the bank,
you know. So you know, I want them to feel
as valuable as I look at them. I want them
to know they're as valuable as I see that. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (09:19):
Yeah, I think the culture when you meet someone that
you're about to hire, and you meet someone who has
a culture that is, you know, aligned with yours and
what you're looking for, that's kind of part of the
intangibles that you're looking for when you're filtering the sand.
And you know, everybody can can have a job or bank,
but not everybody has those same intangibles that you're looking for.
And I wanted to ask. We had a guest on
not too long ago who mentioned his industry was very

(09:42):
important to the to the local community into the area,
but not a lot of people understood the ins and
outs of his industry and and because of that, they
were actually losing money. And I am wondering what role
do you play or do you feel like you play
in terms of educating people about the ins and outs
and kind of the behind the scenes work of banking

(10:03):
and making sure not only are you there for the people,
but you're also I guess a hand that they can
they can grab onto.

Speaker 3 (10:10):
Yeah. Well, you know, our number one goal with you know,
Belmont Savings is this is going to sound good but bad,
but you know we're we're not there, like, we don't
have shareholders, so we're mutual, okay. So that allows us
the opportunity to kind of do a lot more for
the community rather than you know, the banks that do
have shareholders and they want earnings and they want you know,

(10:31):
dividends paid. So that allows us to do a little
bit more. But you know, the big thing for Belmont
Savings is we want to put you in the right
product to help you out. You know, not every bank is.
We will have to do that, whether they want to
admit to it or not. You know, they they do
need to reach that bottom line. Again, for us, it's
not about that. It's about you know, situations happen in
life and we're there to try to help you through

(10:53):
those situations. You know, I think I just mentioned to Wendy,
you know, a perfect example of my life. You know,
Son's car has died and it's you know, a new
engine is going to be ten thousand dollars. I mean,
you know, it'd be nice to just reaching the back
pocket and grab ten thousand dollars, but not not a
whole lot of people can do that. So you know
that's that's something where you know, we want to be

(11:13):
there to help you out. We want to be your
first thought to help you through those situations. You know,
how can we help you today? Is actually our our motto,
so you know that's kind of our part part in it.
But you know, being a bank, you know it's about
product development. We've developed a ton of products which has
been a you know, a top of our list as
well over the past nine years. You know, our our

(11:36):
our goal is to we want to be able to
you to come to Belmont Savings and do anything you
can at the big banks, but with a you know,
lower fee structure and a better customer service. You know,
that's that's been our goal and that's been our kind
of our motive operation for the past nine years, and
we'll continue to be so, so, you know, along with
that to kind of answer, you know, part of another

(11:57):
part of your question, Drake is you know there's a
lot of development on the backside of that. You know,
there's a lot of back office jobs that again you know,
people may not know them on the front lines, but
there's a lot of importance in those back back support
jobs that you know help us to get where we're
at today.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
Well, what I like is when you do have a
new product and you do launch it, you launch it
with information. You let the community know this is what
we have, this is how you go about getting it,
and this is everything that you need to know about
that that product. And I know, I did something at

(12:35):
your bank personally and I had no idea and till
the teller actually explained it to me, and she said,
and I said, I'm so sorry. I feel like I'm
really stupid. She said, no, no, no, listen, not everybody
understands this. This is and she took me step by
step through the whole process. And it was very interesting
because I don't have the I know, it's going to

(12:56):
be shocking. I don't have the financial mind that a
lot of people do. I just do not but I
know that now I know the product because she explained
it to me in layman's terms. I understood that. So
I I thank you for having that culture in your
bank that allows me average woman to understand this stuff.

Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah, well, again, I appreciate that, Wendy. You know. That's
again that's I think that's one of the things that
makes us different. You know, Again, when you're when you're
driven towards profit, you know, you're going to have a
lean staff, you know, inside any branch, and that's just
that's just the numbers, the way the numbers work out
for us. Again, it's about what's the one best for you.
So we want to have people there when you walk
into our office. You know, we want you to be greeted,

(13:41):
we want you to be acknowledging, we want to see
how we can help you out. Again, if there's two
people when you walk into a branch at another bank,
you know, the chances are they're going to be busy,
too busy to help you out and sit down and
talk with you. So again, I think that's one of
the things that separates us as a community bank, and
specifically for Belmont Savings Bank, is one of the things
we emphasize pretty regularly.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
So I'm going to ask you a question about you personally.
All right, So why stay local? Why stay here in
the Ohio Valley? What is it about the Ohio Valley
that you like and you love?

Speaker 3 (14:18):
Well? Obviously it's a great place to raise a family.
You know, this has been home for me. I don't think,
you know, there's got to be something super special to
draw me away from here. It's been home forever. My
whole family's here. You know. My parents were super lucky
that my sister who lives in Saint Clairsville, when I
are still local, you know, they can see their grandkids
grow up. You know. I go to church with my

(14:40):
mom and dad every single Sunday. I think that's important.
You know, Highboy is a really good place. You know,
it's we kind of get there's a lot of negative
talk maybe about not so much to do is you
know if you went to Columbus or Pittsburgh. But you
know those places are easy drive away, you know, being
Columbus and I are forty five and it's breaking in
an hour, so it's not like you know, those are

(15:02):
a crossing the country on those you know, I think
there's a stat out there somewhere. You know, there's so
much of the US population. It's within a you know,
three four hour drive too, so it's you know, it's
pretty well situated. Is the industry and economy where we
want it to be right now? Probably not, but you
know that's that's our job to fix as well, you know,
And that's why I think if everybody pitches in a

(15:23):
little bit, and you know, that's why we're so focused
on giving back to the community and try to help
and do what we can to help develop this area
because it is a great area, you know, to raise
a family, and it's good area. So it's it's safe,
and you know, you get to know a lot of people,
which you know always comes in handy. You know. Again
with my with my son's car situation, I mean, if

(15:43):
I lived in Dallas, Texas, I mean, where am I
going to take it? I don't know anybody you know
with with with it. Now, you know, I was able
to reach out to a few people and you know,
take it to who can help me fix it. So
I think there's you know, something to be said for
that as well. Just getting to know a lot of
people and having a lot of content.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
That seems to be the the threat common thread that
we're getting in all of our interviews that we've done.

Speaker 4 (16:07):
Right, Drake, it's it's it's a great place to raise
a family, is what we hear all the time. We
hear that there's nothing like home and that kind of
small town, small area feel. And if if you are
looking for stuff to do that, if you're not satisfied,
I don't know how you're not with the things that
you could do around here. It is an easy drive
out seventy to hit Columbus or head up to Pittsburgh

(16:28):
or even Cleveland, and even then d C is only
five hours away, so you're you're you're really close to
a lot of things. I think to your point, I mean,
I think at some point we're just going to have
to come on and do uh maybe a half hour
long just read on how good this area is to
live in. It is, and we can compile all the
answers that we've gotten from our.

Speaker 2 (16:47):
Guests and everything that's just been very interesting for me.

Speaker 4 (16:50):
I do want to ask you if you could look
back and talk to a younger version of yourself, maybe
the West Liberty version of yourself, or a college student,
What would you say or what advice would you give?

Speaker 3 (17:05):
You know again, I I it's probably something that the
best advice I would give is probably something I tell
my kids every day, and it's be nice and talk
to everyone that you know. You know that you never
know when you're gonna to need somebody or need somebody's advice,
or you know, need that contact going forward in the future.
You know, it's you know, getting your job coming out

(17:26):
of what celebrity is is or any school is the
toughest job, or everyone have to find I think that's
you know, you learn that over time. You know. After that,
it's it's basically up to you and what kind of
network you build and who you get to know, and
you know, who trusts you and who looks at you
as a valuable employee and a valuable person to be around.
You know, so build your network and you know, try

(17:48):
to help out anywhere you can. I think people notice that,
people remember that, So you know, I guess just be
nice number one. Be nice, be kind, and you know,
talk to as many people as you can and try
to network and build your network up because it's gonna
it's gonna be invaluable to you. Down the line.

Speaker 4 (18:05):
As far as building network, we talk all the time
about connections. It's in the name of the show. We
ask everybody how how important are connections? Everybody says, all
they're so important, you need to make connections, and then
we kind of just you know, blow over it and
go on. We don't ever really get down to the
meat and bones of what it is or what it
means to make a connection or how to build a network.
How do you know who to run into at what place,

(18:27):
at what time? How do you know whose hands to shake,
How do you know whose number to get? How do
you know? You know, things like that, what goes into
building successful you know, connections and building a network that
can really take you a long way throughout your life.

Speaker 3 (18:40):
Well, that's a good question. I mean, I don't think
there's any perfect way or one set way to do it.
For me, it's you know, and I'll be the first
to tell you. And I'm not the most out going
person in the world, but for me, it's just about
being seen, being seen, and you know, making connections. You know,
you know, I tell our people all the time, you know,
just go be seen at lunch. You know, I'll pay
for your lunch, you know, go sit down at a restaurant,

(19:01):
and the more you get to interact with people, the
more people see you, they start to ask questions and
they feel comfortable with you. So for me, it's it's
not necessarily going to be in the loudest person in
a room and you know, they say, work in the room.
I guess, you know, shaking every hand you possibly can.
You know, I'm not running for office, so I don't
I don't need votes. But at the same time, you know,
I think I'm a pretty good guy and I'm pretty
down to earth, so you know, for me, it's just

(19:22):
it's just being seen and then people start to trust you,
they start to ask your questions, say hey, what's your name?
Where do you work? And you know, once they get
that comfort level with you, then you can kind of
you know, talk and get into the business with side
of things. But again, there's not one way that's perfect
or one way that's preferred. It's just kind of what
personality that those individuals have, and you know, how can

(19:43):
they be effective doing it?

Speaker 2 (19:45):
And that's what part of the commerce, part of our
title is that connection, that building relationships, and what you
said is true because it's it's being seen, not necessarily
the loudest person in the room, but just being seen
at different events. And there's so many different events in

(20:07):
the Ohio Valley.

Speaker 3 (20:09):
Yeah, I mean.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
You could, you could have a whole Your calendar is
totally My calendar is totally fool and it's exhausting, it is,
it's but I still go because it's important to me
as it is important to you to be seen. So
I am open for people to ask me questions, right.

Speaker 3 (20:31):
Sure, because that's what it's all about. Well one hundred percent.
You know, it's kind of the Drake's point there. If
people say they don't have anything to do, I mean,
just give me a call. I'll give you one hundred
events you can go to. And again that's as part
of us is just supporting the local communities and there's
a thousand things we could go to each week.

Speaker 4 (20:47):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
You know. So you know we try to be everywhere.
We can't be everywhere, but you know, uh, because we
have kids and we have you know, things going on
in our personal lives. But you know, it is super
important to be out there and be seen and have
people you know, trust it. Hey, I know, Belmont Savings
Bank is a supporter of this event. They're going to
be here. I can promise you they're not just right

(21:08):
in a check there. Someone's going to be here. Oh
and you know, I think that's if it's not one
hundred percent of the time, I'll say it's pretty close
to that where we're going to be out there when
we donate money to things.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
So, so, what do you do personally to take care
of yourself? Self care is huge? I know this is
I know, I'm just like really thrown you here.

Speaker 4 (21:30):
Currently, We're got to start asking everybody that. That's the
I think that's the best question you've ever asked.

Speaker 2 (21:34):
So, you know, because what you do is stressful. Yeah,
in today's economy especially, it's very stressful. You have to
have answers, you have to talk to, you know, your customers.
So what do you do for self care?

Speaker 3 (21:47):
Well, it's going to kind of kind of sound weird,
but I coach baseball, and you know there's pressure in
that too, because I'm I'm the head coach at Willing
Central and I coach my two youngest ones, uh who
go to school there. But for me, that's that's an escape,
you know, that's that's fun. Uh. You know, yes, there's
pressure to win, but at the same time, like I love,
I love doing it. I love you know, being around

(22:08):
my kids. I love being around their friends who have
coached since you know, they were seven or eight. That's
to me, that's an escape, you know, going to watch baseball.
You know, I try to walk and jog, you know,
three or four times a week at least, just stress relievers.
And you know, sometimes it's you know, we talk about
our calendar people, and and sometimes for me just personally,

(22:30):
it's it's fun to just be at home and just
veg you out on the couch and you know, watch
meaningless TV. You know, that's that's a stress reliever too.
And it's yeah, you know, we're all so busy that
it just takes time, you know, for yourself, and you
have to take time for yourself or else you're gonna
get burned out pretty quick and it's gonna you know, obviously,
probably create some health problems. So yeah, that's a good

(22:52):
question to ask. But for me, it's probably exercise, and
then coaching baseball is just something I love doing. I
love being around the kids of you know, interacting with
the kids and just you know, helping them in any
way I can. Again, you know, I was in that.
I was on the other side of the fence as
a baseball player and wanting to play college baseball. And
you know there's some coaches that were big influences in
my life. So, uh, if I can do that for

(23:13):
one kid, then you know I'm successful.

Speaker 4 (23:16):
And there's a huge aspect of investing in your community
in that regard as well. I mean that's the volunteer
I think, the teachers and coaches and and like, you
have an opportunity to make such an impact on so
many young people's lives. And obviously you and I both
hope there's you know, a lot of good impact that
you make. But that's just another thing that can feed

(23:36):
into the community, and I think that's incredible. So you know,
you're kind of I guess diversifying your your investments in
the community that.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
One.

Speaker 3 (23:48):
Yeah, now that's it's true. Again, it's just us being
involved as a bank, and you know, the bank obviously
allows me to have a little bit of a flexible
schedule to be able to do that. So again there's
you know, it's it's something I've done since my oldest
is twenty three, he's still playing at Moscame University Baseball.
So it's something I've done since he was five. So,
you know, think back, it's been eighteen years, but it's

(24:10):
been eighteen enjoyable years. Yeah, there's some stresses along the way,
but again it's something I love to do. I love
being around the kids. I love, you know, being around
the game of baseball. So for me, it's been nothing
but fun.

Speaker 2 (24:22):
Well I am. I love having you on here.

Speaker 4 (24:25):
This has been nothing but fun.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
This has been This has been a great morning. You
have a lot. You brought a lot to the table,
and thank you for that because we really do appreciate
you and your bank and the volunteerism that you create
and you cultivate in that in that banking realm. Not
all every bank has that, so I really do I

(24:48):
appreciate that. Yeah, because you're not stiff, like you're not
like starchy. Shirt, Yeah a suit which.

Speaker 3 (24:56):
I did iron my shirt, windy or what it's good.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
Your shirt looks good.

Speaker 3 (25:02):
So no, I think again, I think we're a fun
bank to be around. You know, Like I said, we
developed so many products over the past eight or nine years.
Like honestly, I'll put our checking accounts up against anybody
in the country, whether it's you know, internet based or
you know, breaking mortar building. You know, people that haven't
haven't checked us out or given us a chance. Come
check us out. And if if you're not happy, you know,

(25:22):
you can call me personally. That's another thing. I think
I'm pretty pretty approachable. I'm gonna take my If you
call me and ask for me at the bank, you're
gonna you know, you're gonna get a call back. I
promise you that. Again. That's we're just I don't think
of myself as being a you know, in a in
a in a situation where you know, I'm too good
to call anyone back. You know, there's people call me

(25:43):
all the time and just ask me questions about their account.
I'll I'll talk to them. I mean, that's just that's
what makes us different. And you know, if you don't
have that kind of service with your bank or institution,
you know, come check us out and give us a shot.

Speaker 4 (25:55):
Okay, Well, we really appreciate you coming on this morning.
We appreciate you taking the time out and talking to us.
We've had an incredible and insightful conversation. For Todd Kover,
Wendy Anderson, I'm Drake Watson. This has been community connections
and commerce.

Speaker 3 (26:09):
Thank you for listening.