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Drew Costa

Employee Highlight

Drew Costa

Branch Manager, Chico

When did you begin your career with Tri Counties Bank?
April 5, 2006

What was your first position?
My first position was an Hourly Teller at our Charter Location on Pillsbury Rd. in Chico.

List your key steps to your career success.
I felt like the best place to start a career in a completely new industry was at the ground level, a true foot-in-the-door opportunity. My experience as an hourly teller provided me with plenty of room to grow and learn at a realistic pace. Transactional visits with customers on the front line helped me to build confidence in identifying customer needs and in referring to experienced bankers. Follow up with those bankers about their conversations with customers and the solutions they recommended was critical in expanding my banking acumen further. After being promoted to a Personal Banker role, and spending a couple of years in those shoes, I had built a strong understanding of the industry. That knowledge paired with a passion to help those around me develop led me to an opportunity to lead a team of tellers in the Assistant Branch Manager role. During those 3+ years in the ABM role, some of my proudest moments were in celebrating the successes of my team, leading them to the next steps of their career development. Some of those folks are still with the bank now, years later, having amazing careers of their own. Witnessing that long term growth continues to be a source of motivation as I help guide new team members beginning their journey. In an effort to sharpen my own saw, I returned to the Chico Pillsbury Branch in a Senior Banker role. This experience allowed me to develop a strong acumen in business new accounts and lending. Again, I felt that if I was to lead a branch, it would best serve me to have the knowledge to support and direct each and every team member in their responsibilities. Ultimately in 2014, I was provided with an opportunity to lead my first team in the Branch Manager role. The success of those teams provided me the opportunity for increasing responsibilities in larger branches in terms of staffing and customer relationships. I currently manage two locations, our Chico Park Plaza and Paradise Branches. I remain committed to the development to the teams I lead, my own continued development, and supporting my peers in their times of need, all with the ultimate goal of providing valued service to our great customers.

How did your leader support your career growth?
I have been fortunate to learn from so many diverse leaders over my time with this company. Recognition and opportunity both feel very nice along the way, but some of the very best support I have received from my leadership has been through the challenging conversations, pushing me to reach higher and in identifying my own blind spots. What a person does with that kind of information, in my opinion, is a critical factor in growth. I am grateful for those direct supervisors as well as our executive leadership teams along the way, particularly for their commitment to transparency, vision, and care for all of the employees of our company.

Tell us about your current job.  
As a Branch Manager, I support and direct a team of tellers and personal bankers, in partnership with our ABM, all working together in delivering on key promises we make to the constituencies of our Mission Statement. Each important role on our team has a very real opportunity to make an impact on our delivery of Service with Solutions. I am also fortunate to work directly with our customers in partnership with the various specialty departments within the company but, truth be told, the real magic of relationship banking at our company often begins on the front lines with our tellers and bankers. My service to them, and in turn, their service to our customers, is a key focus in my current role. Creating the same opportunities I was afforded and providing feedback to my team are investments I strive to make regularly, as I know firsthand the impacts those activities can make. In 2020, I was so honored to receive the designation of Vice President Branch Manager, which is more of a testament to those who have supported me along my career than for my individual efforts. Outside of the branch, I represent the company by participating in many of the local community events the Bank sponsors.

What do you like about working at Tri Counties Bank?
At the core of our company is a set of values that have remained unchanged since I started with the Bank. I think in an era filled with buzzwords and short-term commitments, having this kind of stability shows in all that we do. For me, it makes me proud to have concepts like "Integrity" hold true in practice. Doing what's right is in our nature and I have seen that being delivered from the top of the house with our Executive Leadership Team, Board of Directors, and all of the way down through the ranks. Our core commitments are not lip service. In my opinion, this is the reason we have had employees with 20, 30, and 40+ tenures with the company. It is certainly a reason for why I choose to stay with this great company.

What advice about career growth would you give a fellow employee?
Our business of Community Banking is firmly founded on the building of relationships. Early in my career, I was lucky to be introduced to the concept of treating all relationships similar to a bank account, which is fitting, given our industry. Every day, every interaction we have with another person is an opportunity to either positively or negatively impact that relationship, similar to deposits and withdrawals to a bank account. Deposits can be as small as a simple smile, or as big as a sincere apology. Withdrawals can be minor or critical to a relationship in the same way. Keeping this in mind challenges a person to tend to and mend relationships that they may otherwise take for granted. If the effort is a part of your lifestyle, you will build a brand to be proud of, a network you can count on, and if you make a mistake every so often, people will cut you some slack. Build a reserve of this goodwill with your circle and watch that circle grow.

Headshot of Samantha Howard

"Build a reserve of this goodwill with your circle and watch that circle grow."