The community of Santa Cruz, California, likes to keep things local – even when it comes to banking.
Santa Cruz County Bank president and CEO Krista Snelling noted that her bank maintains a healthy share of the area's market, with 20% of deposits in the city of Santa Cruz and more than a 15% deposit market share in Santa Cruz County, making it fourth behind the big national banks like Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, said Snelling.
Snelling, however, joined the bank as a relative outsider. When she arrived from Sacramento's Five Star Bank to take over as CEO in 2021, she was one of the few bank employees who wasn't a Santa Cruz native or longtime resident.
"There was never a second where I didn't feel welcome by this amazing community," Snelling said. "I also told everyone who would listen that meeting clients is my favorite part of the job so I got out there and made sure clients knew I was available to them as an additional resource in the bank. It helps that I'm an extreme extrovert and I love meeting new people."
Snelling has made it her mission to build a team that offers a variety of experiences and viewpoints. "I wanted to retain people who have local knowledge and add people from outside the community who have new ideas and perspectives," Snelling said.
But she faced a hurdle that the entire banking industry was grappling with: a shortage of qualified candidates.
To attract talent, the bank decided that it would pitch itself to prospective hires in the same way it would pitch itself to a new client. "[T]he biggest thing we did is we had our executive team, everybody was involved in the hiring of this higher-level position," Snelling told American Banker last year. "[W]e were very clear about articulating our vision for the bank, and our strategy going forward and defining to the individuals how it would be a mutually beneficial relationship."
The bank has since hired a new chief risk officer, a new relationship manager and a new deposit relationship manager.
"We've gotten the new people working well with a group of people whose average tenure at the bank is 16 years. We did a lot of work around asking, 'Who are we?' and getting everyone on the same page. It's been a good process," she said.
Snelling has also made herself a fixture at local community events. "It's lots of trying to do good and have fun," she said.
In addition, she has worked with several local organizations, including the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, Monterey Bay Economic Partnership and the Rotary Club of Santa Cruz, among others. Snelling is also the chair-elect of the California Bankers Association, where she's on the executive committee.
Santa Cruz County Bank has eight branches, including locations in Salinas and Monterey, California. It has also started an asset-based lending division, which Snelling said serves small and middle-size businesses throughout California, offering financing from about $1 million to $20 million.
In September 2019, the bank's total assets stood at $723 million. By the end of 2022, they had climbed to $1.73 billion.
That "crazy" growth, Snelling said, is "all due to our amazing team and the support of this wonderful community."
