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When Harleysville Savings Bank launched its fifth branch at the Hillcrest Shopping Center in Lan dale, the employees turned out in droves for the opening.
They didn't have to attend, but they did.
After all, each one is a stockholder in the corporation. Each one meets with President and CEO Edward Molnar, on their first day of work, to review the company's mission statement and values. As a result, each employee, the bank's think_ ing goes, will and does work with customers more diligently to fulfill their needs.
Harleysville Savings made community interaction part of its mission statement, and mines that market niche to survive amid bigger banks that might tend to cater more to commercial borrowers. Harleysville Savings' focus, then, is on individuals and families, not business customers.
"There is a tremendous need for that in this community," Molnar said. "Our focus on individuals and families enables us to spend our resources on that market. And that's why we've been successful."
Given its size and limited resources, it would have made little sense for Harleysville to chase any other market.
Still, the bank hasn't ignored growth opportunities when they come. The fifth branch represents what he views as conservative growth, not slow growth, Molnar said. To that end, Harleysville Savings has expanded as far as...