October 30, 2024 • 7 mins
David has been a banking leader in Northeast Ohio since 2011, as part of a career that includes more than three decades of banking experience nationally, focused on corporate and commercial banking. Cleveland is his home, and he enjoys supporting his city and finding success for his company all at the same time.
David is the first regional president for First Financial in Northeast Ohio. In his first year after being named to the position in 2023, he quickly added $100 million in investment in Northeast Ohio through his clients.
He considers his biggest win in business to have come from finding a path to success as the first employee hired in a new market, which he has done twice now, most recently with First Financial Bank. He holds his MBA, specializing in finance and marketing, from Case Western Reserve University, and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Miami University. David also holds FINRA investment banking licenses.
David is a proud of his local connections and volunteers his time to improve the community. He is the board chair of Building Hope in the City, a nonprofit organization that is transforming the neighborhoods of Clark-Fulton and Stockyards, and Cleveland’s refugee and immigrant communities. David is also active with the Leadership Cleveland Foundation, the Miami University Venture Pitch competition and Bay Presbyterian Church.
David is the first regional president for First Financial in Northeast Ohio. In his first year after being named to the position in 2023, he quickly added $100 million in investment in Northeast Ohio through his clients.
He considers his biggest win in business to have come from finding a path to success as the first employee hired in a new market, which he has done twice now, most recently with First Financial Bank. He holds his MBA, specializing in finance and marketing, from Case Western Reserve University, and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Miami University. David also holds FINRA investment banking licenses.
David is a proud of his local connections and volunteers his time to improve the community. He is the board chair of Building Hope in the City, a nonprofit organization that is transforming the neighborhoods of Clark-Fulton and Stockyards, and Cleveland’s refugee and immigrant communities. David is also active with the Leadership Cleveland Foundation, the Miami University Venture Pitch competition and Bay Presbyterian Church.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is CEOs you should know. On iHeart Radio, I'm
Keith Hotchkiss. What's it like to be a bank with
one hundred and sixty years of history but you're the
new kid on the block in a legacy market. We
talked about those challenges of breaking into new territory with
David Dani Miller, CEO of First Financial Bank. So, David,
you know, in a city like northeast Ohio, a Cleveland,
(00:22):
where banking has a long and storied history, what's it
like to come in and be the president of a
company like First Financial that doesn't have physical branches but
is looking to grow its presence here.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, it's really exciting. We started from nothing as you
as you just said, we have no presence, no legacy,
no people, and just a startup And that's the exciting part.
And it's not easy. But the challenge is to go
out and find people to join the team, find clients
that want to bank with us, and have a mouse
trap that's attractive to employees and to and new clients.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah. And what is the you know, the differentiation between
a as you call it, a startup bank versus a
legacy bank. Can you talk a little bit about some
of the advantages there.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, so our company is one hundred and sixty years old,
So we are in the banking business. We've been in
the business in Ohio for a very long time. The
advantages of being a startup and fresh is we've got
a new story to tell and it's different than every
other bank story. There's something unique about every bank that
competes in this market space. And so our challenge at
(01:28):
First Financial is to get the story of our niche
and what we really do well out out into the
market space and.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
What do you really do well? Talk a little bit
about it.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, great, great question. We do really well combining the
benefits of being a small bank with custom client focused
near to the client bankers, combined with a big banks
capacity in terms of our balance sheet and in terms
of the products that we bring into the market, the
(01:58):
things we help clients help their business.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
And you know, there's obviously a tremendous amount of stress
around financial systems for people. I mean, this is money, right,
You are in people's You're in the business of helping
people with their money, which can be very stressful for
them and probably very stressful as an organization. How do
you help people sort of get at ease. Is it
(02:20):
that personalized touch? Because obviously banking and interest rates and
it's always in the news. So how do you make
people feel better about the banking with you?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
It is making it personal being president, offering custom solutions
to problems that maybe other banks can't do or won't do.
So those those are really key components to it.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
David, we're talking with David Dana Miller, who's the regional
president for Northeast Ohio of First Financial Bank, which is
ready to come take the marketplace by storm.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Here.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Tell us, David a little bit about the banking industry
as a whole. Some of the future things obviously online
and apps and you know, certainly maybe even crypto is
part of that. Can you talk a little bit about
what the future is for you and for the banking
industry in general.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, you know, the banking industry. I think the first
thing I'd like to say about it is it's healthy.
There are ups and downs that happened to every bank
and every market segment in banking, but we've got great
regulatory oversight that sometimes we complain about, but it keeps
us on the rails and allows us to do the
things that are necessary to support our communities. And I
(03:25):
think the banks that are really focused on supporting their
communities are in the best spot to do well. And
that's kind of what makes us tick because we want
to see places like Cleveland thrive. That's why we came here.
We thought we could do well here as we can
make a difference in this community.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
You talk a little bit about making a difference in
the community, tell us a little bit about your nonprofit
building hope in the city, and what you're doing is
in partnership with the bank to help rebuild the city. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
So I'm a Cleveland guy. This is my hometown. It's
really important to me that that Cleveland does well, and
part of that is through what the Bank does. For sure,
I get to see us put capital to work in
art in my town, to help businesses grow, to help
help employees, help them find more employees, and those sorts
of things where capital is really useful. But there's more
(04:15):
to it than that, right, Like, I think all of
us have an obligation to support our communities in other
ways and building open the city. Great organization on the
near west side of town. I'm on the board there.
We do a number of things really well. One is
we help immigrants as they move to Northeast Ohio. Another
is we have a broad social enterprise platform. What a
(04:37):
social enterprise is actually business. Our organization has some business
tentacles to it. We run thrift stores. There's a great
symbiotic thing between immigrants coming to town needing a place
to work and us having a place to teach job
skills and help them function in the workplace in northeastillh Well,
so this is a small example.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Yeah, I mean, and so many of these folks coming
from warmer climates. They don't even have things like coats
or snowboots, right, they.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Don't even know that four quarters make a dollar. They
don't know red, yellow, green. Yeah, and you're right. Most
of the immigrants, there's just something that was out yesterday
that are coming to Ohio and Northeast Ohio as well.
They are coming from warm weather climates. A lot of
Middle East, Middle Eastern immigrants and a lot of African immigrants.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah. Yeah, And the work is important because you know,
we can argue about the immigration quote system, but our
population growth depends on people from other countries coming here.
And that's true of every corner of the US. So
that's really incredible work, and I imagine they also need
banking help too.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
I think that is good for our city. Like you said,
it leads to population growth and expansion of services, expansion
of business opportunities, and that's where the bank comes in.
We need healthy communities, and so our bank. We support
several nonprofits already in Northeast Ohio, both with our time
and with our dollars, and it's it's one of the
legs of our platform that we hope to really leverage
(06:03):
to make our business better here.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Well. As a Cleveland guy myself, I'm rooting for you
and I agree, you know, as we're only as strong
as the communities that make up Northeast Ohio. Here, David
tell us a little bit about on CEOs. You should
know you have a very stressful job and a very
important job. How do you, you know, find some time
for your own mental health and you know, you know,
kind of put the stress of the day in focus.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, I'd start by saying, I love what I do
and most of it does not stress me out, most
of it energizes me. I love talking about our company
and what we're trying to do. Around Northeast Ohio. I
think we've put a good team together already. It's small,
but it's a lot of good people that are equally
committed and and I get to talk about it all day,
I mean day, and that's that's fun to me. So
(06:49):
I don't. I don't. There's pressure, there's all kinds of pressure.
We're a public company. We're trying to start something from
nothing and turn it into something substantial up here. But
it's fun work and I I just enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
That's amazing. That's fantastic that you love your work, and
it probably shows and how you treat your customers as well. So,
David Dana Miller, President Regional president of First Financial Bank,
one hundred and sixty year legacy company, ready to come
in and take Northeast Ohio by storm. Already has been
in some ways, David. If business owners want that personalized touch,
how do they get a hold of you.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah, there's a couple of ways. There's our our website
which has a Cleveland page on it. My email address
is simply my name at bank at First dot com.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
David, we appreciate your time today on CEOs you should know,
and good luck building a brand here in Northeast Ohio.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Thanks so much, pleasure to be with you and go
guard it.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
And this has been iHeartRadio CEOs. You should know today's
show is produced by Bob coatesaid, I'm Keith Hotchkiss. We'll
see you next time.
This is CEOs you should know. On iHeart Radio, I'm
Keith Hotchkiss. What's it like to be a bank with
one hundred and sixty years of history but you're the
new kid on the block in a legacy market. We
talked about those challenges of breaking into new territory with
David Dani Miller, CEO of First Financial Bank. So, David,
you know, in a city like northeast Ohio, a Cleveland,
(00:22):
where banking has a long and storied history, what's it
like to come in and be the president of a
company like First Financial that doesn't have physical branches but
is looking to grow its presence here.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, it's really exciting. We started from nothing as you
as you just said, we have no presence, no legacy,
no people, and just a startup And that's the exciting part.
And it's not easy. But the challenge is to go
out and find people to join the team, find clients
that want to bank with us, and have a mouse
trap that's attractive to employees and to and new clients.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah. And what is the you know, the differentiation between
a as you call it, a startup bank versus a
legacy bank. Can you talk a little bit about some
of the advantages there.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, so our company is one hundred and sixty years old,
So we are in the banking business. We've been in
the business in Ohio for a very long time. The
advantages of being a startup and fresh is we've got
a new story to tell and it's different than every
other bank story. There's something unique about every bank that
competes in this market space. And so our challenge at
(01:28):
First Financial is to get the story of our niche
and what we really do well out out into the
market space and.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
What do you really do well? Talk a little bit
about it.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, great, great question. We do really well combining the
benefits of being a small bank with custom client focused
near to the client bankers, combined with a big banks
capacity in terms of our balance sheet and in terms
of the products that we bring into the market, the
(01:58):
things we help clients help their business.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
And you know, there's obviously a tremendous amount of stress
around financial systems for people. I mean, this is money, right,
You are in people's You're in the business of helping
people with their money, which can be very stressful for
them and probably very stressful as an organization. How do
you help people sort of get at ease. Is it
(02:20):
that personalized touch? Because obviously banking and interest rates and
it's always in the news. So how do you make
people feel better about the banking with you?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
It is making it personal being president, offering custom solutions
to problems that maybe other banks can't do or won't do.
So those those are really key components to it.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
David, we're talking with David Dana Miller, who's the regional
president for Northeast Ohio of First Financial Bank, which is
ready to come take the marketplace by storm.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Here.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Tell us, David a little bit about the banking industry
as a whole. Some of the future things obviously online
and apps and you know, certainly maybe even crypto is
part of that. Can you talk a little bit about
what the future is for you and for the banking
industry in general.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, you know, the banking industry. I think the first
thing I'd like to say about it is it's healthy.
There are ups and downs that happened to every bank
and every market segment in banking, but we've got great
regulatory oversight that sometimes we complain about, but it keeps
us on the rails and allows us to do the
things that are necessary to support our communities. And I
(03:25):
think the banks that are really focused on supporting their
communities are in the best spot to do well. And
that's kind of what makes us tick because we want
to see places like Cleveland thrive. That's why we came here.
We thought we could do well here as we can
make a difference in this community.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
You talk a little bit about making a difference in
the community, tell us a little bit about your nonprofit
building hope in the city, and what you're doing is
in partnership with the bank to help rebuild the city. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
So I'm a Cleveland guy. This is my hometown. It's
really important to me that that Cleveland does well, and
part of that is through what the Bank does. For sure,
I get to see us put capital to work in
art in my town, to help businesses grow, to help
help employees, help them find more employees, and those sorts
of things where capital is really useful. But there's more
(04:15):
to it than that, right, Like, I think all of
us have an obligation to support our communities in other
ways and building open the city. Great organization on the
near west side of town. I'm on the board there.
We do a number of things really well. One is
we help immigrants as they move to Northeast Ohio. Another
is we have a broad social enterprise platform. What a
(04:37):
social enterprise is actually business. Our organization has some business
tentacles to it. We run thrift stores. There's a great
symbiotic thing between immigrants coming to town needing a place
to work and us having a place to teach job
skills and help them function in the workplace in northeastillh Well,
so this is a small example.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Yeah, I mean, and so many of these folks coming
from warmer climates. They don't even have things like coats
or snowboots, right, they.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Don't even know that four quarters make a dollar. They
don't know red, yellow, green. Yeah, and you're right. Most
of the immigrants, there's just something that was out yesterday
that are coming to Ohio and Northeast Ohio as well.
They are coming from warm weather climates. A lot of
Middle East, Middle Eastern immigrants and a lot of African immigrants.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah. Yeah, And the work is important because you know,
we can argue about the immigration quote system, but our
population growth depends on people from other countries coming here.
And that's true of every corner of the US. So
that's really incredible work, and I imagine they also need
banking help too.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
I think that is good for our city. Like you said,
it leads to population growth and expansion of services, expansion
of business opportunities, and that's where the bank comes in.
We need healthy communities, and so our bank. We support
several nonprofits already in Northeast Ohio, both with our time
and with our dollars, and it's it's one of the
legs of our platform that we hope to really leverage
(06:03):
to make our business better here.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Well. As a Cleveland guy myself, I'm rooting for you
and I agree, you know, as we're only as strong
as the communities that make up Northeast Ohio. Here, David
tell us a little bit about on CEOs. You should
know you have a very stressful job and a very
important job. How do you, you know, find some time
for your own mental health and you know, you know,
kind of put the stress of the day in focus.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, I'd start by saying, I love what I do
and most of it does not stress me out, most
of it energizes me. I love talking about our company
and what we're trying to do. Around Northeast Ohio. I
think we've put a good team together already. It's small,
but it's a lot of good people that are equally
committed and and I get to talk about it all day,
I mean day, and that's that's fun to me. So
(06:49):
I don't. I don't. There's pressure, there's all kinds of pressure.
We're a public company. We're trying to start something from
nothing and turn it into something substantial up here. But
it's fun work and I I just enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
That's amazing. That's fantastic that you love your work, and
it probably shows and how you treat your customers as well. So,
David Dana Miller, President Regional president of First Financial Bank,
one hundred and sixty year legacy company, ready to come
in and take Northeast Ohio by storm. Already has been
in some ways, David. If business owners want that personalized touch,
how do they get a hold of you.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah, there's a couple of ways. There's our our website
which has a Cleveland page on it. My email address
is simply my name at bank at First dot com.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
David, we appreciate your time today on CEOs you should know,
and good luck building a brand here in Northeast Ohio.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Thanks so much, pleasure to be with you and go
guard it.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
And this has been iHeartRadio CEOs. You should know today's
show is produced by Bob coatesaid, I'm Keith Hotchkiss. We'll
see you next time.
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