When Jeane Vidoni landed a job in 2006 at First Federal of Bucks County, the small mutual savings bank that would eventually become Penn Community Bank, she recalls that her mentors were skeptical.
Up until then, Vidoni had worked at larger banks, including the former Philadelphia-based Meridian Bancorp, moving often between departments in search of new challenges.
Her mentors thought she might be bored at First Federal, then a roughly $350 million-asset institution, said Vidoni. "What I came to find out … I operate much better in an environment where I can have impact, where I can see it and feel it."
Vidoni became First Federal's CEO in 2013. Two years later, it merged with First Savings of Perkasie, and Vidoni was named CEO of the new institution, Penn Community Bank.
Under her leadership, the bank has grown to assets of nearly $2.8 billion and about 325 employees, making it the largest mutual financial institution in eastern Pennsylvania.
Vidoni, who grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, did not set out to become a banker. But after her first year in college, she began working for an advertising agency that had a bank for a client. After she graduated in 1983, she landed a job as an advertising officer at First National Bank of Allentown, which was purchased two years later by Meridian.
Noticing Vidoni's creative approach on the job, Meridian moved her into roles where there was not yet an established rulebook. She helped launch a direct mail department, for example, and build a data warehouse for use in credit-card marketing.
"They really had a commitment to people development," Vidoni said.
After CoreStates bought Meridian in 1996, it pulled the plug on the data project and Vidoni moved into community banking, working for a succession of banks before joining First Federal as its chief administrative officer.
The wide range of Vidoni's experiences in banking has helped her create a "people-first" culture at Penn Community.
"That's not just a saying. It really is, top to bottom, how we operate," she said, noting that the bank's mutual structure allows it to take a longer-term view of financial results.
While her current job is her longest lasting, it has yet to grow old. Vidoni consistently finds new challenges, whether it is keeping pace with the latest banking technology or adapting to the changing industry and environment.
Indeed, Vidoni emerged as a leading voice for community banks after several high-profile regional bank failures earlier this year. Many commentators were actively encouraging people to shift their money out of smaller banks and into the country's largest banks.
"I do get concerned that we don't get lost in the shuffle," said Vidoni, who was recently named president of the Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council, which advises the Federal Reserve on issues of interest to community banks and credit unions. "There's a difference between a community bank and a large bank and a mega bank. And I spend a lot of my time now educating and talking about those differences so that we have a shot at remaining relevant."
