September 10, 2025 • 16 mins
Mr Gillespie is the President of ERIEBANK, a subsidiary of CNB Bank. Wesley has been responsible for the expansion of the bank into the Cleveland market, as well as lead the growth efforts of ERIEBANK. In his role as President, Mr Gillespie has full responsibility for managing and directing the overall market-based Commercial and Industrial lending activities across the Ohio and Pennsylvania footprint. Mr Gillespie also has responsibility for the delivery of commercial services including Commercial Real Estate, Treasury Management, and Private Banking across the region. Mr Gillespie is responsible for building and expanding the ERIEBANK customer base by building relationships and ensuring the delivery of best-in-class service at every level
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is iHeartRadio CEOs. You should know I'm Keith Hodg Houston.
Today we have the honor of having Wes Gillespie, the
president of Erie Bank, in the podcast with us. Wes,
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thank you, Keith.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I'm excited to talk to you because I've seen you expand.
First off, is Erie Bank based in Erie? And how
have you grown in Northeast Ohio? Because I have experienced
larger regional and national banks closing branches, especially in the
interring suburbs in the core of Cleveland, you guys seem
to be expanding and growing. Well, why is that and
how is that happening?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Sure, Keith, is my pleasure to be here. By the way,
thank you for inviting us in. And to answer your
first question, our bank was found at twenty years ago
in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
So our headquarters continues to be in Erie, Pennsylvania. We
have a regional headquarters here in Ohio, which is where
we decided to expand, you know, roughly twelve years ago
or so, and so we have a very large operation
here in Northeast Ohio and we continue to grow it.
(01:05):
You know, we believe that our style, our model is
community banking, which really really addresses being in the community,
being very close to the customer, trying to eliminate bureaucracy
and eliminate you know, roadblocks for consumers and business owners
(01:27):
who need capital, right and so we you know, we
do our best to really have speed and really solid
touch points for our customers, and that's what makes us different.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
We believe there's nothing wrong with a large national bank.
Several of them are headquartered here. You in your previous
life have worked in some of those places, and I
completely understand. But in today's era of online banking, unless
people wanting to interact, I imagine there's a huge needs
you're filling in the community because you can say, Hey,
(01:57):
I'm interested in starting a business, but getting an appointment
at one of the larger national banks might be more
challenging than coming to seeing you guys at Erie bank, right, correct.
What does the experience? Why is that experience important in
today's world of online banking and AI and financial literacy.
Why is it important to have a community bank that
people can walk into and have conversations with bankers.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I think the biggest differentiator is that we try to
meet customers where they are meeting. Everyone's at a different
walk of life in their financial journey, whether you're you
know you're buying your first home, or whether you're starting
to say for college for your kids, whether you want
to start a business expand a business need capital for business.
(02:40):
And what we just really try to do is to
not make it cookie cutter. Banking is truly a commodity.
We try to decommoditize it and we try to make
it special, different for everyone that walks in our doors.
And that's what we really as a community bank, you
really have that flexibility to you don't have the ch
legitity and the always the systems of a large bank.
(03:04):
To your point earlier, nothing wrong with large banks. We
need them, large capital banks, we need international banks. I
think in our banking ecosystem, community banks serve a real
specific purpose and that's exactly what you said, to serve
the community oftentimes to make customers comfortable where they might
(03:25):
not normally be comfortable walking into a large bank lobby.
And if you walk into any of our lobbies, you'll
get the field of a very personal touch. It feels
like you've walked into someone's home almost and it's very casual, warm, atmosphere,
and that's what we try to deliver and that's the difference.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Well, and it sounds great because money is very personal
to people right little and it can feel invisible. You know,
I'm trying to teach my kids the value of money
and it's hard, Like they I'm not quite certain when
I send them fifteen dollars an apple care they understand
what that even is. Right, It's a it's a construct, right.
And so you're probably doing a lot of education in
(04:06):
the community and doing things like that in schools. Can
you talk a little bit about what every bank does.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Sure, we do.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Financial literacy is one of our primary targets goals because
we recognize that the healthier financially we can have in
our communities, the more the bank will grow. And so
that's a primary goal for us. It's financial literacy in
the communities that we serve.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
So what we do is we do our own classes.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
From time to time, we do a lot of financial
literacy training for organizations. They reach out and say, hey,
can we bring in a group of young people or
a group of kids or whatever the you know, whatever
the age, and if you guys could put together a
financial literacy course or curriculum for our organization, but we
also partner with other organizations that already do that.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
You know, we don't want to.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Reinvent the We if there's an organization, you know, maybe
they just need some support financially from a bank right
to further their mission of financial literacy, we do that
as well.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
So we do both.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
It just depends on what's really necessary or needed.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
We're talking with Wes Gillespie, the president of Erie Bank
here in Cleveland, Ohio as we record this podcast. Wes,
it's labor day after Labor Day of twenty twenty five,
and it is to say the lead has been every
soundingly wild economic ride since COVID hit right, and we're
seeing a lot of disparate economic growth. You're seeing numbers
(05:36):
where the top percentages of our income earners are really
driving the economy, and folks who are you know, what
we might consider the middle class feel like they're falling behind.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Can you talk a.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Little bit about, you know, the state of the economy
and maybe how people can look at your bank as
a sort of a reassuring way to feel better about
the finances and the financial decisions they're being forced to make.
Can you talk a little about where we are as
an economic world.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I know it's a sort of loaded question, but I'm
curious from you, a distinguished career in banking, so I
know you're qualified to speak on this subject.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Well, you know, really I see it as you know,
the everyday person in our bank would I would say
that majority of our customers are really particularly consumer customers
and even small business customers and middle market customers are
everyday people. And you look at the economy and you
see the stock market, and then you see the other
(06:36):
part of the economy, and the stock market would tell
you that the economy is doing really fantastic. And my
views here my personal views, not the views of necessarily
Eerie Bank on certain subjects. But when it comes to
the market and the economy, the economy is seems to
be very persistent and it continues to really be stayed.
(07:00):
We have a very stable economy despite coming out of COVID,
despite a number of things, and now obviously there's the
uncertainty with tariffs, but the economy seems to be pretty resilient.
And now I will say that for Eerie Bank, what
we try to do is we try to help people
who may not be necessarily always a part of the
(07:22):
greater economy, which let's just call it the market, the
stock market, and help them to achieve the same dreams
and financial aspirations as those that do take advantage of
the stock market, because everyone has to start somewhere. But
it seems that the economy has been very resilient and
we're still seeing some growth. We're still seeing businesses grow
(07:46):
and new businesses open, new small businesses open. Yes, when
I think about our local economy here in Ohio, and
I will say the same thing seems to be fairly
resilient to some of the pressures that we so we
hear about, you know, on the radio, and hear about.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
On TV, etc.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
But Yeah, all in all, it's been a resilient economy.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
So we have a resilient economy. We have some folks
who traditionally have been in what you might call white
collar industries that are starting to feel nervous about the
impact of AI. College graduates coming out of school with
much fewer opportunities than they had before. But it's almost
like a rejiggering of the economic model. If you come
(08:28):
out of a trade school, you got a job. We
need plumbers, we need electricians. I can't hire a elevator
repairman to save my life. Right, So, how do you
as a bank help support schools and education for you know,
the future AI economy?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Right?
Speaker 1 (08:44):
How are you guys working with schools and communities to
help folks understand where to go to get further education
and then create the wealth that you want them to create.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Yeah, we try to recognize that that there's no one
size fits all. And you're right when you look at
the future of the workforce, we're constantly studying that. We
want to study what does the workforce look like ten, fifteen,
twenty thirty years from now, and AI is a big
(09:14):
part of it, particularly as it comes to your point
about white collar jobs. I would encourage people not to
be afraid of AI. And I'm certainly an old school guy.
I grew up in banking. Everyone in the office and
a tize size, and you know, you're competing. It's a
(09:36):
collegial competition that I grew up in. Not you know,
it's just a collegial you're competing and trying to win.
So I grew up and so I myself have to
kind of change my paradigm around AI and the workforce
and all of these things because it's coming to your point.
We try to tell people again when we're talking to
(09:58):
you know, either either younger families or either or kids,
that you really need to keep your options open and
knowing that trade school and the trade we call it
is a workforce that can't be replaced really by AI.
AI won't be able to fix your plumbing and fix
(10:20):
your car, and you know, but AI will be able
to diagnose you in a hospital. So there are certain
industries that AI will will impact faster than others. You know,
look five years from now, things will look very different.
So we really try to help people on their journey now. Financially,
(10:41):
no matter what you choose, you need to know how
to manage money. You need to know how to create
a budget, you need to know how to stay disciplined
within a budget. So those principles don't change no matter
what you choose to do for a living or what
industry you're in. You know, I always tell people it's
not how much you make, it's how much you save.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah, that's same.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
So that's what we try to really do and how
we try to deliver it.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
It really is good advice, but probably not often easily
practiced when you're in the moment and it's easy to
just swipe your phone and get something you want asap.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
But we're talking with Wes Gillespie. Wes as the president
of Erie Bank, a community bank formed in Erie, Pennsylvania
and expanding rapidly throughout Ohio. And if you're hearing this
conversation like I am, you think of Eerie Bank as
the everyday bank, right, because we're everyday people in Erie,
PA and Cleveland, Ohio. Like we're not necessarily, you know,
(11:34):
in Monaco like jets setting around private jets, although there
are people in this county that do that, Wes. One
of the things we'd like to talk about on CEOs
you should know is how folks like you who are
in high value, high stressed positions, you know, center yourself
and ground yourself so that you can do your best
work for your employees and your community bankers and your
(11:57):
members of your bank, your customers.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
How how do you.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Know with with when you're operating a bank, when you're
charged with keeping people's money safe. I'm sure there's stressors there.
So how do you yourself? I know you have a family,
How do you decompress, how do you de stress and
be the best person you can be?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Wow, good question or first off day to day, I
really try to stay close to people. You know, Visit
our customers, you know, visit our employees, go to the branches,
Understand what their lives are like. Right now, I'm not
in an ivory tower sitting back looking at emails all day.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I'm in the community. I'm in the.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Market, so I'm talking to customers. I know how customers feel.
I know, we know how employees feel. Yeah, we can
always do better and you know, create an environment where
customers employees feel better. But you know, for me, it's
really the culture that I try to maintain within our
(12:56):
within our company that people feel, you know, engaged in her.
And so for me, that's a big part of it,
because for me, it's you can't turn it off and on.
When I leave the office in the evening, I don't
go home, and I'm not a different person. I'm the
same guy, and so I do the same thing at home.
I really try to stay close to my family, try
to understand, you know, what we're dealing with, what everyone
(13:19):
is dealing with, how their days are going, you know,
and you know, I try to find time for myself
to unwind to your point, read, work out, do the
things that I enjoy. I always tell people for to
sustain high performance, you have to take care of yourself.
You can't always take care of other people to sustain
high performance over a long period of time.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
And in the bank, in our industry, that's what you
have to do.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
It's a very high charging environment where you're always running
and you're always keeping up. You always feel like you're
trying to keep up to get ahead. You're just trying
to keep up. So that's how I approach it, just
being out with people and being close to our customers
and our families and our employees in our communities.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Well, if you're listening to this podcast and you maybe
feel like you or family members, you know, feel like
you're falling behind, I think it might be worth a
visit into a branch of an Erie Bank near you.
They are warm and inviting. I drive by the one
in Seven Hills quite often. It's a nice, beautiful location.
And you're continuing to grow in Northeast Ohio. Right, what
are the expansion plans?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Right?
Speaker 3 (14:22):
So we've opened three brand new ground up construction branches.
One is in Seven Hills, that's our regional headquarters. We
opened one in Woodmere on off of Brainerd right next
to Starbucks, and we are most recent. One we opened
about a year ago, is in Crocker Park, Oh cool,
right at Crocker Park. Another ground up construction, and we
(14:45):
want to continue to grow our branch presence. We build
our branches like I said warm, They're a little smaller,
but they don't feel smaller. Walk in, you won't feel
like it's smaller than a traditional branch.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
We try to make it eco friendly.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
We try to you know, we preserve and make sure
that we're using resource as well. And our goal is
to continue to grow in Cleveland's Cleveland is a growth
market for our bank, and we want to continue to
grow in Cleveland, both east side and west side. The
next branch we're looking for is in the city of
Cleveland Great and that's real important to me personally, entire company.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Well, and you know, as we're recording this podcast, we
are in downtown Cleveland and it's important for me and
iHeart to see Cleveland thriving. If Cleveland is thriving, then
the whole region is thriving. That's kind of how we
looked at it when we moved. We actually moved from
the suburbs. Nothing wrong with the suburbs, right, We felt
like it was important that we plant a flag in
downtown and let the seeds grow from there. So Erie
(15:49):
Bank is continuing to grow and hopefully you'll have a
chance to grow with them. West Gillespie, President of Ohio
for Erie Bank, Thanks for being with us on the
podcast today.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Thank you very much for inviting me.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
My pleasure and this has been iHeartRadio CEOs. You should
know today's show was produced by Bob coatesaid I'm Keith Hotchkiss.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
We'll see you next time.
This is iHeartRadio CEOs. You should know I'm Keith Hodg Houston.
Today we have the honor of having Wes Gillespie, the
president of Erie Bank, in the podcast with us. Wes,
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thank you, Keith.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I'm excited to talk to you because I've seen you expand.
First off, is Erie Bank based in Erie? And how
have you grown in Northeast Ohio? Because I have experienced
larger regional and national banks closing branches, especially in the
interring suburbs in the core of Cleveland, you guys seem
to be expanding and growing. Well, why is that and
how is that happening?
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Sure, Keith, is my pleasure to be here. By the way,
thank you for inviting us in. And to answer your
first question, our bank was found at twenty years ago
in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
So our headquarters continues to be in Erie, Pennsylvania. We
have a regional headquarters here in Ohio, which is where
we decided to expand, you know, roughly twelve years ago
or so, and so we have a very large operation
here in Northeast Ohio and we continue to grow it.
(01:05):
You know, we believe that our style, our model is
community banking, which really really addresses being in the community,
being very close to the customer, trying to eliminate bureaucracy
and eliminate you know, roadblocks for consumers and business owners
(01:27):
who need capital, right and so we you know, we
do our best to really have speed and really solid
touch points for our customers, and that's what makes us different.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
We believe there's nothing wrong with a large national bank.
Several of them are headquartered here. You in your previous
life have worked in some of those places, and I
completely understand. But in today's era of online banking, unless
people wanting to interact, I imagine there's a huge needs
you're filling in the community because you can say, Hey,
(01:57):
I'm interested in starting a business, but getting an appointment
at one of the larger national banks might be more
challenging than coming to seeing you guys at Erie bank, right, correct.
What does the experience? Why is that experience important in
today's world of online banking and AI and financial literacy.
Why is it important to have a community bank that
people can walk into and have conversations with bankers.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I think the biggest differentiator is that we try to
meet customers where they are meeting. Everyone's at a different
walk of life in their financial journey, whether you're you
know you're buying your first home, or whether you're starting
to say for college for your kids, whether you want
to start a business expand a business need capital for business.
(02:40):
And what we just really try to do is to
not make it cookie cutter. Banking is truly a commodity.
We try to decommoditize it and we try to make
it special, different for everyone that walks in our doors.
And that's what we really as a community bank, you
really have that flexibility to you don't have the ch
legitity and the always the systems of a large bank.
(03:04):
To your point earlier, nothing wrong with large banks. We
need them, large capital banks, we need international banks. I
think in our banking ecosystem, community banks serve a real
specific purpose and that's exactly what you said, to serve
the community oftentimes to make customers comfortable where they might
(03:25):
not normally be comfortable walking into a large bank lobby.
And if you walk into any of our lobbies, you'll
get the field of a very personal touch. It feels
like you've walked into someone's home almost and it's very casual, warm, atmosphere,
and that's what we try to deliver and that's the difference.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Well, and it sounds great because money is very personal
to people right little and it can feel invisible. You know,
I'm trying to teach my kids the value of money
and it's hard, Like they I'm not quite certain when
I send them fifteen dollars an apple care they understand
what that even is. Right, It's a it's a construct, right.
And so you're probably doing a lot of education in
(04:06):
the community and doing things like that in schools. Can
you talk a little bit about what every bank does.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Sure, we do.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Financial literacy is one of our primary targets goals because
we recognize that the healthier financially we can have in
our communities, the more the bank will grow. And so
that's a primary goal for us. It's financial literacy in
the communities that we serve.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
So what we do is we do our own classes.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
From time to time, we do a lot of financial
literacy training for organizations. They reach out and say, hey,
can we bring in a group of young people or
a group of kids or whatever the you know, whatever
the age, and if you guys could put together a
financial literacy course or curriculum for our organization, but we
also partner with other organizations that already do that.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
You know, we don't want to.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Reinvent the We if there's an organization, you know, maybe
they just need some support financially from a bank right
to further their mission of financial literacy, we do that
as well.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
So we do both.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
It just depends on what's really necessary or needed.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
We're talking with Wes Gillespie, the president of Erie Bank
here in Cleveland, Ohio as we record this podcast. Wes,
it's labor day after Labor Day of twenty twenty five,
and it is to say the lead has been every
soundingly wild economic ride since COVID hit right, and we're
seeing a lot of disparate economic growth. You're seeing numbers
(05:36):
where the top percentages of our income earners are really
driving the economy, and folks who are you know, what
we might consider the middle class feel like they're falling behind.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Can you talk a.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Little bit about, you know, the state of the economy
and maybe how people can look at your bank as
a sort of a reassuring way to feel better about
the finances and the financial decisions they're being forced to make.
Can you talk a little about where we are as
an economic world.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I know it's a sort of loaded question, but I'm
curious from you, a distinguished career in banking, so I
know you're qualified to speak on this subject.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Well, you know, really I see it as you know,
the everyday person in our bank would I would say
that majority of our customers are really particularly consumer customers
and even small business customers and middle market customers are
everyday people. And you look at the economy and you
see the stock market, and then you see the other
(06:36):
part of the economy, and the stock market would tell
you that the economy is doing really fantastic. And my
views here my personal views, not the views of necessarily
Eerie Bank on certain subjects. But when it comes to
the market and the economy, the economy is seems to
be very persistent and it continues to really be stayed.
(07:00):
We have a very stable economy despite coming out of COVID,
despite a number of things, and now obviously there's the
uncertainty with tariffs, but the economy seems to be pretty resilient.
And now I will say that for Eerie Bank, what
we try to do is we try to help people
who may not be necessarily always a part of the
(07:22):
greater economy, which let's just call it the market, the
stock market, and help them to achieve the same dreams
and financial aspirations as those that do take advantage of
the stock market, because everyone has to start somewhere. But
it seems that the economy has been very resilient and
we're still seeing some growth. We're still seeing businesses grow
(07:46):
and new businesses open, new small businesses open. Yes, when
I think about our local economy here in Ohio, and
I will say the same thing seems to be fairly
resilient to some of the pressures that we so we
hear about, you know, on the radio, and hear about.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
On TV, etc.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
But Yeah, all in all, it's been a resilient economy.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
So we have a resilient economy. We have some folks
who traditionally have been in what you might call white
collar industries that are starting to feel nervous about the
impact of AI. College graduates coming out of school with
much fewer opportunities than they had before. But it's almost
like a rejiggering of the economic model. If you come
(08:28):
out of a trade school, you got a job. We
need plumbers, we need electricians. I can't hire a elevator
repairman to save my life. Right, So, how do you
as a bank help support schools and education for you know,
the future AI economy?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Right?
Speaker 1 (08:44):
How are you guys working with schools and communities to
help folks understand where to go to get further education
and then create the wealth that you want them to create.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Yeah, we try to recognize that that there's no one
size fits all. And you're right when you look at
the future of the workforce, we're constantly studying that. We
want to study what does the workforce look like ten, fifteen,
twenty thirty years from now, and AI is a big
(09:14):
part of it, particularly as it comes to your point
about white collar jobs. I would encourage people not to
be afraid of AI. And I'm certainly an old school guy.
I grew up in banking. Everyone in the office and
a tize size, and you know, you're competing. It's a
(09:36):
collegial competition that I grew up in. Not you know,
it's just a collegial you're competing and trying to win.
So I grew up and so I myself have to
kind of change my paradigm around AI and the workforce
and all of these things because it's coming to your point.
We try to tell people again when we're talking to
(09:58):
you know, either either younger families or either or kids,
that you really need to keep your options open and
knowing that trade school and the trade we call it
is a workforce that can't be replaced really by AI.
AI won't be able to fix your plumbing and fix
(10:20):
your car, and you know, but AI will be able
to diagnose you in a hospital. So there are certain
industries that AI will will impact faster than others. You know,
look five years from now, things will look very different.
So we really try to help people on their journey now. Financially,
(10:41):
no matter what you choose, you need to know how
to manage money. You need to know how to create
a budget, you need to know how to stay disciplined
within a budget. So those principles don't change no matter
what you choose to do for a living or what
industry you're in. You know, I always tell people it's
not how much you make, it's how much you save.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah, that's same.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
So that's what we try to really do and how
we try to deliver it.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
It really is good advice, but probably not often easily
practiced when you're in the moment and it's easy to
just swipe your phone and get something you want asap.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
But we're talking with Wes Gillespie. Wes as the president
of Erie Bank, a community bank formed in Erie, Pennsylvania
and expanding rapidly throughout Ohio. And if you're hearing this
conversation like I am, you think of Eerie Bank as
the everyday bank, right, because we're everyday people in Erie,
PA and Cleveland, Ohio. Like we're not necessarily, you know,
(11:34):
in Monaco like jets setting around private jets, although there
are people in this county that do that, Wes. One
of the things we'd like to talk about on CEOs
you should know is how folks like you who are
in high value, high stressed positions, you know, center yourself
and ground yourself so that you can do your best
work for your employees and your community bankers and your
(11:57):
members of your bank, your customers.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
How how do you.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Know with with when you're operating a bank, when you're
charged with keeping people's money safe. I'm sure there's stressors there.
So how do you yourself? I know you have a family,
How do you decompress, how do you de stress and
be the best person you can be?
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Wow, good question or first off day to day, I
really try to stay close to people. You know, Visit
our customers, you know, visit our employees, go to the branches,
Understand what their lives are like. Right now, I'm not
in an ivory tower sitting back looking at emails all day.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I'm in the community. I'm in the.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Market, so I'm talking to customers. I know how customers feel.
I know, we know how employees feel. Yeah, we can
always do better and you know, create an environment where
customers employees feel better. But you know, for me, it's
really the culture that I try to maintain within our
(12:56):
within our company that people feel, you know, engaged in her.
And so for me, that's a big part of it,
because for me, it's you can't turn it off and on.
When I leave the office in the evening, I don't
go home, and I'm not a different person. I'm the
same guy, and so I do the same thing at home.
I really try to stay close to my family, try
to understand, you know, what we're dealing with, what everyone
(13:19):
is dealing with, how their days are going, you know,
and you know, I try to find time for myself
to unwind to your point, read, work out, do the
things that I enjoy. I always tell people for to
sustain high performance, you have to take care of yourself.
You can't always take care of other people to sustain
high performance over a long period of time.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
And in the bank, in our industry, that's what you
have to do.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
It's a very high charging environment where you're always running
and you're always keeping up. You always feel like you're
trying to keep up to get ahead. You're just trying
to keep up. So that's how I approach it, just
being out with people and being close to our customers
and our families and our employees in our communities.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
Well, if you're listening to this podcast and you maybe
feel like you or family members, you know, feel like
you're falling behind, I think it might be worth a
visit into a branch of an Erie Bank near you.
They are warm and inviting. I drive by the one
in Seven Hills quite often. It's a nice, beautiful location.
And you're continuing to grow in Northeast Ohio. Right, what
are the expansion plans?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Right?
Speaker 3 (14:22):
So we've opened three brand new ground up construction branches.
One is in Seven Hills, that's our regional headquarters. We
opened one in Woodmere on off of Brainerd right next
to Starbucks, and we are most recent. One we opened
about a year ago, is in Crocker Park, Oh cool,
right at Crocker Park. Another ground up construction, and we
(14:45):
want to continue to grow our branch presence. We build
our branches like I said warm, They're a little smaller,
but they don't feel smaller. Walk in, you won't feel
like it's smaller than a traditional branch.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
We try to make it eco friendly.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
We try to you know, we preserve and make sure
that we're using resource as well. And our goal is
to continue to grow in Cleveland's Cleveland is a growth
market for our bank, and we want to continue to
grow in Cleveland, both east side and west side. The
next branch we're looking for is in the city of
Cleveland Great and that's real important to me personally, entire company.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Well, and you know, as we're recording this podcast, we
are in downtown Cleveland and it's important for me and
iHeart to see Cleveland thriving. If Cleveland is thriving, then
the whole region is thriving. That's kind of how we
looked at it when we moved. We actually moved from
the suburbs. Nothing wrong with the suburbs, right, We felt
like it was important that we plant a flag in
downtown and let the seeds grow from there. So Erie
(15:49):
Bank is continuing to grow and hopefully you'll have a
chance to grow with them. West Gillespie, President of Ohio
for Erie Bank, Thanks for being with us on the
podcast today.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Thank you very much for inviting me.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
My pleasure and this has been iHeartRadio CEOs. You should
know today's show was produced by Bob coatesaid I'm Keith Hotchkiss.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
We'll see you next time.
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