Meet The Bankers:
Margaret Curran-Rusch
My name is Margaret Curran. I'm Senior Vice President and Commercial Team Leader for the Bank in the Suffolk County Market.
Why should you use a local lender?
Using a local lender, I think for a business is a key decision. When I look at the profile of First National, I see a Bank that from the top down, is filled with professionals who grew up, lived and worked on Long Island; and that's an invaluable resource for our business community to draw on when they're making a decision and trying to navigate through a transaction. When you have somebody, that's local, truly present, and that you can meet with they can become an invaluable Financial Advisor and help you navigate and maybe eliminate some of the anxiety and uncertainty when you’re preparing for the next phase of your business.
What sets you and First National Bank LI apart from other bankers and banks?
When I think about the Bank and what sets up apart, we’ve been a Bank in this community operating for over 95 years. We just celebrated our 95th Anniversary. We’re the longest standing, truly local, independent Bank in the region, and that’s not by accident. Throughout the culture of the Bank is really a desire to put the customer first, focus on delivering the highest level of service quality you possibly can, and make sure that we’re bring to bear, all the assets of the Bank to help a customer navigate through various business cycles- and I think the fact that we’ve been around as long as we have in the market, sets us apart, it's why are customers stay with us and it's why I've been with the bank for over 23 years. We’re a leader in the market because of our culture and that helps business customer every day.
Describe how you helped a client grow their business.
I had a recent conversation with a customer at the end of the year, we were discussing the financial results, how they did and what their strategies were going to be and how I could help them in the coming year. When we were done reviewing the financial strategy, the business customer brought me over to a window that looks out on the production floor and he was just sort of reminiscing, I guess a little bit and saying remember when we bought this building together- that was when we first met, it was the first transaction I did with them about 21 years ago, and then help them build out that facility, so that it made sense for their business to function efficiently and then he pointed out, you know, all the machines that that we financed over the years and he turned to me and he said, you know, you've been a big part of our success and the Bank has really helped us over the years, and that means a lot, you know, you've been a really good Financial partner. And I think that's one of the most rewarding things about my job, and you know, keeps me so engaged and invigorated. Having that kind of impact on a business and being a positive force for the Bank and the community makes me feel good and it's very rewarding.
Word of advice:
So my word of advice would be for anybody getting into banking or if you're looking to switch jobs, make sure that you align yourself with a company that has the same set of values that you do. I've been with First National for over 23 years now and throughout the changes in the bank and the economy in the various business cycles, one thing that has always been consistent is that their approach to doing business and putting the customer first and delivering the highest service quality is exactly my approach to doing business and it's why I've been here for so many years and I think it's also have the bank's been so successful and a leader in the market all those years.