January 2017

110 Years and Growing:

How does an organization carry on for one hundred and

ten years? Would character, integrity, honesty and hard work come to mind?

Did you know that First City Bank’s charter is 110 years old and the future continues to be bright!

Building our business one Customer at a time met the

challenges of Business longevity!

See story on page 4.

Congratulations to our very own Chantale Gilbert-Murat, Assistant Vice President and Operations officer. Chantale received her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Finance from DeVry University December 12, 2016.

See story on page 3.

News from the Vault

Transmet Corporation

Transmet Corporation is a privately-owned Manufacturer of Rapidly Solidified Metals, located on the west side of Columbus. Transmet was formed by Battelle Memorial Institute in 1979 to license their patented technology of melt spinning. This is the production process used to produce Transmet’s high-purity Aluminum Flakes. Battelle Memorial Institute is best known for bringing the world Xerox copiers, compact discs and the coating for M&M's. On any given day, the more than 21,000 worldwide Battelle employees are working on 5,000 projects for 1,000 customers. Transmet has been a privately-owned small business since 1988 when former President and CEO of Battelle, Sherwood L. Fawcett, took ownership alongside others. Transmet still operates the high-purity Aluminum Flake production line and has since opened two other production lines based on another proprietary process. The majority of those that make up the small team at Transmet have been with the company for many years; their know-how in metallurgy is unmatched at a company this size.

Partnerships with The Ohio State University

Transmet partners with The Ohio State University College of Engineering and the Max M. Fisher College of Business each year to educate students and improve the company. The Engineering Lean Six Sigma program has brought many changes to the way Transmet handles raw materials inventory. Ohio State Engineering interns also implemented principles of “Lean Manufacturing” at Transmet to reduce waste and ensure maximum use of company money and time.

Transmet was a part of the College of Business Export Internship Program two years in a row to secure a distributor in Mexico and improve export compliance for international customers. Transmet has customers in Canada, Mexico, Spain, Netherlands, New Zealand, Argentina, and more.

Transmet Team Meetings

Every Wednesday morning at the Transmet offices, you will find the entire Transmet team together for weekly “Walk & Talk” meetings. These meetings are inspired by Dave Akers’ 2-Second Lean book. Employees are encouraged to make small, “2-Second Improvements” throughout the week, named for their ability to save as little as two seconds of company time. When compounded over time, this principle leads to large savings

and bigger ideas that save much more than just two seconds of time.

Transmet team members walk around the office and the plant, visiting everyone’s workstations to see firsthand the improvements that were made that week. The meetings are a fun, informal way to tap into each area of the company and appreciate what every team member contributes. Transmet assembles in the same way for bi-monthly “Huddle” meetings where all employees have an inside look at planning, forecasting, and aligning production and sales.

Connecting With Transmet

Columbus community members are welcome to visit Transmet Corporation each Wednesday morning at 8:30 am for the weekly Walk & Talk meeting. Whether you are interested in learning more about Transmet production processes or would like to learn how to implement a similar program at your small company, the Transmet Team welcomes all.

Transmet Corporation is a longtime customer of First City Bank. If you are interested in connecting with Transmet, you will find them at our 2017 cookouts or can visit their company website. Transmet updates their website and social media profiles weekly to supply company news, industry news, and customer application pictures and success stories.

Congratulations to our very own Chantale Gilbert-Murat, Assistant Vice President and Operations Officer.

Chantale has been an employee of First City Bank for over fifteen years now.

Pictured here with Vice President of Finance Randy Williams.

Pictured her with First City Bank Accountant Dave Whitacre.

Chantale started as a part time customer service representative. The value she brought to the organization became clear and she became a full time customer service representative. Chantale has continued to grow and take on additional responsibilities and roles within the organization and was promoted to Assistant Vice President and Operations Officer this past September.

First City Bank offers tuition reimbursement as an employee benefit, which Chantale took advantage of and has received her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Finance from

DeVry University December 12,

2016. We are so proud of her!

Pictured with her Father and Aunt.

The December 12, 2016 Graduation ceremony held at the Columbus Convention Center, included over seventy-five family and friends who are excited and proud of Chantale’s accomplishment. Join us in congratulating her!

Pictured here with her husband AND SON

110 Years and Growing: Now let us appreciate the past…..

The year 1907, known better as

the Panic of 1907. Throughout

1907 the American economy was

showing signs of weakness as

numerous business and Wall

Street brokerages went bankrupt.

Depositors made massive run on

the nation’s banks.

In Christiansburg, Ohio; First City

Bank was just starting. Receiving

its charter January 1st, 1907 as the

Farmers and Merchants Bank

Company located at the Old

Fellows Social Lodge NO. 139 in

Christiansburg, Ohio.

The bank incorporated with

capital of $25,000 and was started

and built on the slogan “The

Friendly Bank”. Throughout these

110 years, First City Bank has kept

with that type of messaging.

Though the slogans have changed

over the years from “The Friendly

– Family Bank” to today’s slogan

“Building Business One Customer

a Time”.

The philosophy of keeping

customers first has remained

intact!

The $25K initial capital is equal to

approximately $641K today. That

is a bargain, as it takes nearly 20

million dollars of capital to start a

bank today.

Old Fellows Social Lodge NO. 139

in Christiansburg, Ohio.

The Lodge housing the bank in

Christiansburg, Ohio was torn

down in February 2006 and the

lot was turned into a Veteran

memorial and community

gathering area.

In 1909 the bank moved down

the block to 2 East Pike street.

Federal Reserve Act that

established the Federal Reserve

System was passed by Congress in

1913 and signed into law by

President Woodrow Wilson. The

Reserve Banks opened for

business in 1914.

The purpose of the

Federal Reserve System, is to be

the central bank of the United

States. It was created by the

Congress to provide the nation

with a safer, more flexible, and

more stable monetary and

financial system.

The Fed’s goal is "to promote

sustainable growth, high levels of

employment, stability of prices to

help preserve the purchasing

power of the dollar and moderate

long-term interest rates”. It

accomplishes its goal with four

basic duties: conduct monetary

policy, supervise banks, maintain

stability of the financial system

and provide financial services to

the banking system.

The Fed’s impact behind the

scenes touches our lives in many

ways –from clearing checks that

we cash to processing electronic

transfers or payments we make

through our online bill pay

accounts or when we transfer

money from one account to

another. It also influences our

lives in less obvious ways too.

What the Fed does really matters

to individuals and their ability to

maintain employment and buy

goods and services.

1921-1929 – The “Roaring 20’s” –

The Federal Reserve floods the

economy with cash and credit

which increased the money

supply by $28 billion, almost a

62% increase over an eight-year

period. This artificially created

another “boom” in the economy.

In 1929, the Federal Reserve

began to pull money out of

circulation as loans were paid

back. This created a “bust” which

was inevitable after issuing so

much credit in the years before.

The Federal Reserve’s actions

triggered the banking crisis, which

led to the Great Depression.

October 24, 1929 – “Black

Thursday”, Stock Market Crash.

The most devastating stock

market crash in history.

1930- Great Depression Begins.

1929-1933- Federal Reserve

reduces money supply by 33%.

To strengthen the Fed’s authority

and independence, Congress

passed the Banking Acts of 1933

and 1935. With the passage of the

Glass-Steagall Act, a clear

distinction was drawn between

the types of services that

commercial banks and investment

banks could offer. Which

separated commercial banking

from investment banking and

established the Federal Deposit

Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as a

temporary agency to guarantee

deposits.

Most people realize that the

funds in their checking

and savings accounts are insured

by the Federal Deposit Insurance

Corporation (FDIC), but few are

aware of its history, its function,

or why it was developed. Initiated

in 1933 after the stock market

crash of 1929, the FDIC continues

to evolve as it finds alternative

ways to insure deposit holders

against potential bank insolvency.

The FDIC has a very notable

history that demonstrates the

U.S. commitment to ensuring that

past bank troubles do not affect

citizens as they have done in the

past.

The Great Depression (1929-39)

was the deepest and longest-

lasting economic downturn in the

history of the Western

industrialized world. In the United

States, this began soon after the

stock market crash of October

1929, which sent Wall Street into

a panic and wiped out millions of

investors.

One would think that crimes

would rise during bad economic

times. Famous outlaws such as

Bonnie and Clyde a young couple,

with no jobs or prospects, drove

across the country robbing banks

and killing police officers to make

ends meet. John Dillinger, famous

for his likable personality and

charm would often flirt with

female bank tellers whom he was

robbing, and would also

sometimes leap over the counter,

a stunt he imitated from the

movies during the Great

Depression.

Interesting fact; in 1930 First

City Bank (known at the time as

Farmers and Merchant Bank)

completed the installation of

several panes of bullet-proof

plate glass and lined the

interior of the bank partitions

with the same kind of steel.

These where called bandit

resisting features, making it

almost impossible for

employee of the bank to be

shot or become victims of

bandits. They actually

demonstrated the reliability of

the bullet-proof glass by

shooting a high powered rifle

that failed to even crack the

glass. The son of the president

of the bank in the 1950’s told

me the tellers had a mounted

sawed off shot gun pointed at

the belly of bandits.

The Depression years had very

little crime. The period before

the depression, booming

economic prosperity, the

roaring '20s had very high

crime. The 1950s and '60s

were the same, the economy

was great, but crime rates rose

every single year.

In 1988 the name was

changed again to First City

Bank and in 1994 the

headquarters of First City

Bank moved to the current

location in Columbus Ohio.

The Christiansburg 2 East

Pike bank building was sold

to National bank and torn

down in 2006, replaced with

a new smaller structure.

1999 – The Financial Services

Modernization Act allows

banks to grow even larger.

Many economists and

politicians have recognized

that this legislation played a

key part in the subprime

mortgage crisis of 2007. It

repealed part of the Glass-

Steagall Act of 1933 and

allowed investment banks,

commercial banks, securities

firms, and insurance

companies to merge.

2000-2003 – The Federal

Reserve Extends “easy

credit”, lowers the Federal

Fund Rate from 6.5% to 1%

and sets up another financial

“boom”

2004-2006 – Federal Reserve

sets off new “bust” by

making loans and Adjustable

Rate Mortgages more

expensive, raising Fed Fund

Rates to 5.25%, which

contracts the market.

2007-2010 – Worst Financial

Crisis since the Great

Depression

The financial crisis impacted

people around the world –

millions lost their homes,

jobs, and retirement funds.

Many of the smaller banks

were absorbed by others,

which allowed the biggest

banks to further consolidate

wealth and eliminate

competition.

Throughout the last 110

years of up’s and down’s in

the banking world, First City

Bank has been there for its

Christiansburg, and now

Columbus, Ohio communities

and customers. Today, First

City Bank continues its

financial strength and is in

excellent position for a bright

future!

An organization is only

as good as the people

who work in it and the

customers they serve!

Congratulations on

110 successful years!

GO LOCAL Stay Connected 614-487-1010 www.facebook.com/myfirstcitybank1 www.myfirstcitybank.com Follow us on LinkedIn