Business View Magazine | June 2022

115 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 6 in order to dress casually for the day. “Each employee gets to pick a month and the money that we raised that month goes to a cause that’s near and dear to their heart,” Babcock says. “It gives them that feeling of giving back to something that they care a lot about.” Jeans Day became even more important during the pandemic when local food pantries were seeing increased demand. With help from customer donations as well, Cayuga Lake National Bank was able to raise $2,500 for the three local food pantries in their communities. “Our employees know that they have the openness to be able to bring their ideas to management and that we would definitely support that,” says Kelly R. Wade, Cayuga Lake National Bank’s President and CEO. “That is so important to us.” Their giving nature doesn’t end there. One of Cayuga Lake National Bank’s credit analysts has a keen interest in financial literacy, so he has connected with the business teacher in a local high school to help provide opportunities for learning to the students. “He and I have both lamented that there’s just not enough in school in terms of education on things as simple as balancing your account,” Babcock says. “So he sat in on some mock interviews. He’s now going once a month and he’s committed to going into the class to talk about different aspects of banking and finance.” The bank’s push to help the community with its financial literacy is further advanced through a program run by Cayuga Lake National Bank’s AVP of lending, Christie Schwab. Schwab provides financial literacy to the local school districts, as well as Girl Scout troops. “They’ve gotten tours of the bank and Christie will show them the vault and teach them about the basics – the concept of money and saving and interest and things of that nature,” Wade explains. Pre-pandemic, Cayuga Lake National Bank held CAYUGA LAKE NAT IONAL BANK a program called ‘Bank of Wolves’, after the local school district’s mascot. Employees from the bank went into the schools once a week and collected deposits from students to be placed in their savings accounts. “We would go in during their lunch periods to be able to give them a way of depositing their money into the bank and watching their account grow,” Wade says. “They could then come into the bank if they wanted to take out money. We wanted to be able to have a presence at the schools and always be there to educate kids, if need be.” Even within the walls of the bank there’s a sense of family and community amongst its President and CEO Kelly R. Wade, Senior Vice President of Credit and Administration, Scott Babcock, and CFO Thea Miller