President’s Message
J. William Knott, President & CEO September 23, 2021
As we prepare for the Annual Shareholder Meeting on October 20, 2021, I am first going to reflect on our progress.
We have recently completed our $10.0 million capital raise to allow for future growth and the ability to make proper operating decisions for Cecil Bank (“Bank”) and its shareholders and customers. We are in a completely different place than we were just ten months ago. Thank you for your support and thank you to our employees and Board for their hard work and dedication to accomplishing much since our arrival in December 2020.
The Bank will be operationally profitable in the fourth quarter of this year, which is the first time in a very long time this has happened. We believe, absent an extraordinary event, the Bank will be profitable in each quarter of 2022.
When David A. Miller, our Chief Financial Officer, David S. Miller, our Chief Credit Officer, and I joined the Bank less than one year ago, we promised things would be different. The equity offering and operational profitability are two tangible aspects of necessary and important changes taking place to help the Bank grow and remain profitable for the foreseeable future.
We hired Jeffrey Wood to be our Chief Lending Officer and Craig Vogel as a relationship manager. With long-time employee, Robin Brueckman, this gives us a well-respected and knowledgeable business banking team. We are in process of reviewing and analyzing needed upgrades to the Bank’s technology to support our current and future business clients. Our Loan Operations team deserves credit and our thanks for their hard work in an environment that saw loans outstanding nearly double in less than one year.
On the Consumer side of the business, we are moving towards technology upgrades, we are looking to potentially place a deposit taking ATM in Cecilton, and growing our client base with a new and exciting marketing campaign. I want to thank our retail branch staff as we continue to work through COVID-19 protocols to keep our staff and clients safe and healthy and for the superior customer service they provide every day to our loyal customers.
I hope as you read of our successes and the changes to come, it is apparent that the Bank is investing in itself for the first time in a long time. We are investing in updated technology to enhance the client experience and investing in our most important resource, our employees, to help them and the Bank continue to grow and succeed.
One constant that will not change is our gratitude to our clients, employees, and shareholders who have demonstrated their loyalty to Cecil Bank. On behalf of the Board of Directors, management, and shareholders, we would like to thank you for your continued loyalty and the trust you have placed in us.
Bill Knott
Board of Directors:
William H. Cole IV, Chairman
J. William Knott, Director
Hope W. Lundt, Director
John J. Lyons, Director
Mark A. Keidel, Director
P. Kent Snodgrass, Director
Thomas L. Vaughan, Director
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Bank Officers:
J. William Knott, President & Chief Executive Officer, Click here to email Bill
David A. Miller, EVP & Chief Financial Officer, Click here to email David
David S. Miller, EVP, Chief Credit Officer, Click here to email Dave
Jeffrey A. Wood, EVP, Chief Lending Officer, Click here to email Jeffrey
R. Lee Whitehead, SVP & Controller, Click here to email Lee
Robin W. Brueckman, SVP & Business Development Officer, Click here to email Robin
Craig Vogel, SVP & Commercial Lender, Click here to email Craig
Zeljka Preradovic, SVP, Branch Operations and Information Security Officer Click here to email Zeljka
Tamara S. Fender, VP & Loan Operations and Credit Administration, Click here to email Tamara
V. Guy Abell, VP, BSA Officer & Asst. Controller Click here to email Guy
Milena Vujnovic, Bank Officer, BSA Coordinator Click here to email Milena
