Bensalem Bristol Langhorne Levittown Lower Makefield New Hope Southampton Wrightstown Newtown Yardley

118 Mill Street, Bristol, PA 19007215-788-3344 www.firstfedbucks.com

D PROFILE

xx|PHILADELPHIA LIFE/SUBURBAN LIFEVOLUME 5 ISSUE 11

why the owners of The Radcliffe Insurance Groupchose First Federal of Bucks County as their finan-cial institution when the company was foundednearly four years ago. In fact, Radcliffe co-own-er and co-founder Dave Nemeth can quickly reeloff the various reasons he and co-founder ScottEddings placed their business in the capablehands of this particular community bank ratherthan in the care of a larger institution.

“As a new business owner, I messed somethings up at first,” says Nemeth, whose businessis based in Bristol. “First Federal was there to helpme straighten things out. They helped us set upall of our accounts, and helped me get throughlearning how to start and run a business. Theyexplained everything to me until I was complete-ly satisfied and understood. And if I had questions,they were happy to answer them. … There isn’tanything our business has needed that they could-

n’t provide in terms of answers and solutions.”Although there isn’t one reason Radcliffe

chose First Federal of Bucks County as itsbank, Nemeth can point to one trait that ranksextremely high on his list.

“They care about the community,” Nemethsays. “First Federal knows that they succeed whensmall businesses succeed. They have a tremen-dous interest in making small businesses succeedand in making a small town succeed. They’re

At First Federal of Bucks County, clients and community come first

ThePeople’sThere isn’t merely one reason

First Federal ofBucks Countyhelped Harris

Comfort’s co-own-ers—(shown, left toright) Doug Harris,

David Harris andBruce Harris—when

they needed addi-tional funding to

grow the businessand better serve

customers.

By Phil Gianficaro Photography by Allure West StudiosCover photograph by Photos by Lynn

more than eager to do their part in that cycle. Wecouldn’t be happier we chose them.”

For Jeane M. Coyle, First Federal of BucksCounty’s president and CEO, such a glowing tes-timonial is music to her ears. A veteran of morethan 30 years in the financial industry, Coyle be-lieves the satisfaction expressed by Nemeth andother small businesses in Bucks County representsthe quintessential endorsement.

“Dealing the right way with people and smallbusinesses is the culture that was here when I firstjoined the bank eight years ago,” Coyle says.“We’re connected, almost as business partners.I don’t take credit for starting that. That culturecomes from being a mutual savings associationand the team members who have been here overthe years. Its roots were in providing mortgagesand savings accounts for local residents. That wasthe start of our relationship with the communi-ty and we continue to apply the same service at-titude with our customers today.”

First Federal of Bucks County is a federallychartered mutual savings bank that has been serv-ing businesses and individuals in Bucks, Mont-gomery and Philadelphia counties since 1885.Customers enjoy the convenience of banking atany of its 11 branch offices that provide servicesto customers throughout the Delaware Valley.

First Federal of Bucks County offers a num-ber of business and personal banking services,including checking and savings accounts, mon-ey market accounts and retirement accounts. Thebank also has an extensive lending program, in-cluding commercial loans, residential mort-gages, home equity loans, home equity lines ofcredit and student loans.

“We have a full menu,” Coyle says. “We of-fer free business checking that some banks gotaway from. We also have more sophisticated

checking products that some small businesses areinterested in.”

First Federal of Bucks County also possess-es the level of banking technology the larger banksoffer. For example, CheckRunner Remote Depositutilizes a desktop scanner that connects to a busi-ness’ personal computer and the Internet. Thisallows for the scanning of checks received fromcustomers, as well as the issuance of deposits elec-tronically, day or night.

“For a really small business with no scanner,they can take a picture of the front and back ofa check and electronically deposit it in the bank

through our mobile banking service,” Coyle says.“We also offer merchant services where business-es can accept credit cards for payment of goodsand services, through a terminal, iPhone or iPad.

“We don’t suffer by being small,” she con-tinues. “We don’t have to give up technologicalservices because we’re a community bank. It’snow a level playing field.”

She adds, “Being a mutual bank and not pub-licly traded is a benefit. When a bank is publiclytraded, every quarter you have to make a num-ber for your investors. When there’s a room fullof smart people with calculators trying to makea number for investors, they can make a num-ber, but it’s one that can result in poor decisionmaking for their customers. We’re not under thatkind of pressure; therefore, we can have a long-term growth strategy that hasour customers and our com-munity in mind.”

Among First Federal ofBucks County’s satisfied busi-ness clients is Harris Comfort,a full-service air conditioning/home heating companybased in Bristol that has beenserving Bucks County forfour generations. During therecent brutally cold winter,Harris Comfort needed addi-tional funding to support theirefforts to assist their cus-tomers, and First Federal of Bucks County was there.

“They were able to respond to our concernsquickly,” says David Harris, co-owner of HarrisComfort. “We had to have more inventory for cus-tomers, and the bank was there for us. And I’msure they weren’t just doing it for us, but for oth-er businesses.”

He adds, “First Federal can better handle ourconcerns because they don’t have the concerns ofthe stockholders beating them down for dividends.Their primary concern is about their customers.”

First Federal of Bucks County views itself notas merely a financial institution in the county, but

as a member of community. Coyle says the bankgives up to 5 percent of its net income annuallyto those in need in the county.

In December 2013, First Federal of BucksCounty ended the year in a great financial posi-tion so it donated an additional $30,000 that wassplit equally between three organizations. Fundswent to the United Way Bucks County “BucksKnocks Out Hunger” project, which recently pro-vided 100,000 meals and 30,000 pounds of localproduce to the less fortunate in the county; BucksCounty Opportunity Council, for the their work

with the food pantries; and theFamily Service Association fortheir elder-care programs.

Also, First Federal of BucksCounty recently donated a pieceof land to Habitat for Humani-ty Bucks County in the Croydonarea. In May, First Federal ofBucks County board membersand their families assisted in theconstruction of the walls for ahouse that will become an af-fordable home for a family inlower Bucks County.

Finally, First Federal of BucksCounty has worked with Network of Victim As-sistance (NOVA), a nonprofit county organizationthat offers support and advocacy to victims of alltypes of crime, including sexual assault. First Fed-eral Bucks County was the presenting sponsor ofNOVA’s second annual “No BULLying Run,”which was held in June at Doylestown Park. n

PHILADELPHIA LIFE/SUBURBAN LIFE|xxVOLUME 5 ISSUE 11

D FIRST FEDERAL OFBUCKS COUNTYFor more information call 215-788-3344or visit www.firstfedbucks.com.

BankWe don’t suffer by being small.… We can have a long-term growth strategy thathas our customers and ourcommunity in mind.”—Jeane M. Coyle,

First Federal of Bucks County

David Nemeth (left) and Scott Eddings of The RadcliffeInsurance Group couldn’t be happier for choosing FirstFederal of Bucks County as their bank. “First Federalknows that they succeed when small businesses suc-ceed,” says Nemeth.

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Bensalem Bristol Langhorne Levittown Lower Makefield New Hope Southampton Wrightstown Newtown Yardley

118 Mill Street, Bristol, PA 19007215-788-3344 www.firstfedbucks.com