First Resource Bank

Personal attention to businesses is key to First Resource Bank’s success

By Natalie Smith Contributing Writer

Seventeen years ago – it’ll be 18 in September – Glenn Marshall did something to which very few business people can lay claim: He started a bank. Marshall is CEO of First Resource Bank, which began in Exton and has branches in Wayne and West Chester. Along with co-founder Lauren Ranalli, the bank’s President and CFO, their shared vision of creating a niche bank for business has resulted in a lender that offers personal attention and structure for each client.

The bank’s founding was inspired by the kind of business bank that Marshall and Ranalli, who met at Stonebridge Partners investment firm, wanted to see. “We really wanted that high service, high customer, hightouch [banking style],” Marshall said. “We wanted to go [with] a little bit of a concierge kind of approach and not the herd kind of approach. If you want that herd approach,

Photo by Natalie Smith First Resource Bank CEO Glenn Marshall next to some of the awards his bank has won from local newspapers and education organizations. we may not be for you. But [contact us] if you definitely want to have a banker that you can talk to and just kick things around with.” Marshall said he had been recently speaking with a new business owner who was deciding how many accounts to open. “We’re generally involved with our customers at a very early stage. My comment to them is that if that worry wakes you up at 3 o’clock in the morning, we can structure around what worries you and do it on a customized basis. “So that’s kind been our approach, as opposed to you walk in, open the account and nobody knows anything about anything. We tell [our employees] that they’ll learn more about banking being here than you will anywhere else. We want them to fundamentally understand the industry and understand the products and how they can fit them to a situation, as opposed to ‘go sell this today’.” The CEO said combining high-touch service with the convenience of technology is a boon for First Resource’s customers.

“I’d say we have about 70 percent of our deposits coming in electronically; your branch is in your hand.” Marshall noted, “We have a fairly extensive network of remote deposit capture machines” – small, portable devices that allow businesses to scan and directly deposit checks. For example: “We have a customer who has many businesses. There’s a machine for the operating business, but then they have a machine in the controller’s office that deals with all the other business. There are two machines that are 25 feet away from each other but they didn’t want their employees to intermix what they were doing. It’s very customizable.”

Also very important to the folks at First Resource is donating to community causes. “We’re heavily involved in a program called EITC, which is a state program that gives tax credit. The state has to approve the education-

based organization [to receive] the donation.” One of the organizations that benefitted from First Resource was The Garage Community and Youth Center in Kennett Square, which offers a hotspot to connect to the internet. “Kids could do their homework there during the pandemic. I love that part of what we do.” Marshall made this observation about the county’s business climate:

“I think we’re seeing less new businesses started, which makes the ones that have started so much more valuable. Chester County’s strength, is we have a ton of small businesses. We have a couple big ones, we have a lot of small businesses that will evolve into something bigger or they’ll just be a small business and have 10 or 25 employees. But I think our strength and our local economy is that we’ve continued to have those businesses evolve and [replacing] the ones that sort of roll off or become national.

“I hope we continue to see that because we have a great economy here and we need to continue to sort of foster those folks that want to start a business and need the help of just kind of learning, either from us or the Industrial Development Authority. All those various things that are available to them to help with their small business.”

Natalie Smith may be contacted at natalie@DoubleSMedia.com

Photo by Natalie Smith Glenn Marshall, CEO of First Resource Bank, stands next to the sign at the West Chester branch on Paoli Pike.

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