By the numbers:
200 — Estimated employees at Security National Bank
1991 — Year Brown began his banking career at Park National Bank
11 — Community banks within Park National organization
John Brown started his career in banking as a summer job, thinking it would be a good way to make money during breaks while he was in school.
Now, Brown is about a month into his newest job as president of Security National Bank, one of 11 community banks within the Park National organization. Locally, Security has 20 branches spread across five counties and about 200 employees. Brown is replacing Bill Fralick, the bank’s past president and CEO who recently retired.
The industry is undergoing numerous changes and increasing competition, but Security has the right staff in place to continue to provide good service to its customers and maintain its share of the market, Brown said. Past bank leaders like Fralick and Harry Egger have left Security in a good position, he said.
“There are plenty of big banks that would love to have Security’s market share in Springfield and the surrounding counties, so we need to continue to outperform them,” Brown said.
Brown has worked in the Park National organization his entire career. Most recently, he served as president of Richland Bank in Mansfield. He also served as president of Unity National Bank at its headquarters in Piqua. But he said Security is among the largest banks in the organization, and will offer more responsibility and opportunities.
The bank had 15 branches in three counties in 1997, but has since grown to 20 branches in five counties. Brown said he expects Security to continue to grow, although that does not necessarily mean the bank will have a larger physical footprint. Foot traffic at bank branches is down nationwide as more customers bank online, so one challenge will be to ensure Security has the technology needed to best serve its customers in a way that meets their needs, he said.
“We will continue to invest,” Brown said. “It might be different than 30 years ago.”
While banking online has become more popular, he said Security has an advantage over online-only banks though because many customers still want a face-to-face interaction. The bank is facing more competition though from various sources, including other regional banks and credit unions.
One of the challenges, he said, is credit unions often provide similar services to a community bank but benefit from their non-profit status. He argued some credit unions, however, have expanded well beyond the original customer base they were created to serve.
“There are some huge credit unions that have expanded well beyond their original charters,” Brown said.
Brown also plans to be active in the community, and said Security has a role to play as local officials work to encourage development in Springfield and Clark County.
“We have to continue to devote time and resources to make our community better because if not, there’s no need for a community bank,” Brown said.
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