Lycoming County is unique in a number of ways, and one of which is the prevalence of local banks. The banking industry continues to consolidate nationally and even internationally, but in our area, Woodlands Bank, Jersey Shore State Bank, and Muncy Bank and Trust Company have survived and even grown as local entities.

These banks have long connections to the communities they serve. Muncy Bank and Trust Company is a good example of this goodwill. Community participation is almost part of every bank member’s job description. This is most visibly seen with their involvement in the United Way, where some eleven different employees have served in positions such as committee chairs, treasurers, and even campaign chairman in the case of Rob Glunk, Muncy Bank and Trust President.

But every one of the over 100 employees in the bank are encouraged to volunteer in any activity they choose that helps the community. The bank tracks the volunteerism among their employees, which accounted to 4,445 hours of volunteer service in 2017. (It is fair to note, however, that this number is undoubtedly low, as some employees are modest about their volunteer involvement.)

It is not just altruism that drives this corporate culture at Muncy Bank and Trust Company. When a bank employee is a Little League coach or soccer coach, or volunteering for Relay for Life, or any number of local events, it helps them to better know the neighbors that they serve. It also shows the ‘human side’ of the bank to those who will use the bank’s many services.

It is this local connection that is especially significant in the Muncy area, which suffers from serious flooding issues. It was for this reason among others that Muncy Bank and Trust Company served as a sponsor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Insurance Roundtable at the Trade and Transit II building on August 27th, which raised awareness of various flood issues and especially the importance of promoting flood insurance.

This has been an ongoing concern for the bank since the 2012 Briggert-Waters Act came out which dramatically increased federal flood insurance. The bank president at the time, Dan Berninger, appeared in several PA State hearings, as he and the staff put in countless hours so that when the county application for federal funding for flood abatement was developed in 2015, Muncy State Bank and Trust Company was positioned to provide some of the community funding to make that application possible.

Muncy Bank and Trust Company, along with Jersey Shore State Bank, has also been a long supporter of housing issues for those experiencing difficulties, evidenced by their vital role in the efforts of the Housing Coalition (featured in two recent ‘County Hall Corner’ articles). These banks have worked together for the past decade with the other organizations of the Housing Coalition in seeking to find solutions for those individuals who are working hard to secure and maintain a place of residence. The Housing Coalition owes a great deal of their success to the efforts of these two local banks.

Muncy Bank and Trust Company has been around for 125 years, and despite all the changing in the banking industry during that time, it is not only holding its own, but even thriving and expanding. It turns out that being a friend to the community is good business after all.