MHC INTERVIEW
How Community Banks Expand—While Staying Local

Q: Introduction

Sharon: Hi everyone, I’m Sharon Malloch from MHC, and today I’m joined by Rodney Frye, MHC’s community bank expert. Rodney, I know you’ve recently attended some banking events and had face-to-face conversations with people managing communications inside community banks. You have a fresh perspective. So let’s talk about what’s new — what’s changing — and what’s top of mind for them right now.

Q: Q1: What market pressures are community banks facing today?

Rodney: Thanks, Sharon. What I’ve learned is that community banks are at a bit of a crossroads. Larger regional and national banks are moving into smaller towns—you might see a Chase Bank where you’ve never seen one before. Those larger banks operate differently because of their scale: bigger technology investments, broader product offerings, and larger marketing budgets.Rodney: So community banks are looking at that and asking, How do we compete? How do we stay relevant in our own markets while maintaining that community feel that makes us different?

Q: Q2: How do community banks compete if they can’t outscale larger institutions?

Sharon: They’re clearly not going to outscale those larger banks. They have to compete differently. So when you talk about maintaining that “community feel”… what does that really mean day to day? What does that look like in practice? Rodney: It’s in the name — community bank. They want to be a trusted advisor. They want to be relevant in that community. It’s personal. It’s knowing your banker. It’s walking in and being recognized. That relationship model is what they rely on. Sharon: So if the larger banks compete on scale and product breadth, community banks compete on trust and relationship. They’re not trying to be the biggest — they’re trying to be the most connected. Is that fair? Rodney: Exactly. That’s what they rely on. It’s that loyalty, that local connection. You walk in and they know you. That’s their differentiator.

Q: Q3: Why does growth create new communication challenges for community banks?

Rodney: Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Many of these community banks are also expanding. They’re opening branches in neighboring towns. And every branch represents its own community. So now you’re balancing something new. Rodney: You still need centralized control — branding, compliance, operational consistency. But you don’t want every branch sounding like it’s coming from corporate headquarters. That’s where it starts to get complicated. That’s where they start asking, How do I keep the local feel, but still run it like a growing bank?

Q: Q4: What tends to become centralized as banks expand?

Sharon: Right, and when you say “run it like a growing bank,” what actually changes internally? What starts to get centralized? Rodney: As they grow, communications naturally get centralized. Templates get standardized. Compliance language gets controlled in one place. You don’t want every branch creating their own version of the document sent to the customer. That introduces risk and operational costs. But over time, everything can start to feel the same. And if you’re a community bank, that’s not what you want or what has differentiated your bank.

Q: Q5: How can banks allow local personalization while maintaining compliance?

Sharon: You mentioned something very practical when you and I spoke earlier — the idea of allowing branch-level personalization inside regulated customer communications. Can you explain what that might look like? Rodney: One example is having a defined section in the document where branch-specific content can be inserted. The communication still goes out from a centralized system, but there’s a structured space where local messaging can be incorporated. If something is happening locally—maybe a community event is coming up—that branch could reference it. But that event wouldn’t apply to a branch 20 miles away. It’s not hard to do. It just needs to be structured.Sharon: So you’re not giving up control — you’re just creating a defined space for local relevance. An area that is personalized for each community and the being directed by the branch manager.

Q: Q6: What are the staffing realities inside most community banks?

Sharon: All of this sounds good in theory, but what’s the reality on the ground in terms of staffing and internal resources?Rodney: Communication teams are very lean. Small IT staffs, sometimes almost none. Because of that, there’s often an assumption that the kinds of communication systems larger banks use just aren’t realistic. So they either stick with the basic functionality in their core systems or they outsource their customer communications and lose some control.Rodney: When community banks see they can centralize communications, stay compliant, and still allow structured personalization without adding headcount, that changes the conversation. They don’t have the luxury of hiring five more people just to manage communications.

Q: Q7: How are customer channel expectations influencing communication strategies?

Sharon: And I know personalization today isn’t just about the message — it’s also about how customers receive it. How are community banks thinking today about channel expectations?Rodney: Community bank customers are like every other customers out there. They expect options now. Some still want paper statements. Others want email. Others want SMS alerts.Rodney: If you’re managing print one way, email another way, and digital somewhere else, it gets fragmented very quickly. But if you have one system producing everything, you can stay consistent. You can personalize not just the content, but the delivery. It’s another way of preserving that relationship.

Q: Q8: What is the core challenge community banks must solve moving forward?

Sharon: Let me see if I’ve got this right. Community banks are under real pressure from larger institutions moving into their markets. They’re not trying to win on scale. They compete on relationship. On familiarity. On being part of the community. Sharon: But as they grow, they have to centralize operations. And that’s where the tension comes in. The challenge is preserving that local voice — and honoring customer channel preferences — while still running efficiently with lean teams. So it’s not about becoming bigger. It’s about being intentional about how communications support that relationship model. Is that a fair summary? Rodney: That’s a great summary of the challenges out there.

Q: Q9: What advice would you give community bank leaders today?

Sharon: So if you were speaking directly to community bank leaders watching this — what would you tell them right now? Rodney: I’d say don’t assume these capabilities are out of your reach. You don’t have to give up your local identity to modernize. There are ways to centralize, personalize, and meet customers’ expectations without building a massive team and incurring high cost.Rodney: You can grow and still stay true to what makes you different.

MHC Host
Sharon Jones Malloch, Head of Content Marketing at MHC

Guest
Rodney Frye, MHC’s Community Bank Expert (and SVP New Business Growth)

February 27th, 2026

Community banks are facing a new kind of competitive pressure. Regional and national institutions are expanding into local markets, bringing larger technology budgets, broader product offerings, and scale advantages that community banks are not designed to match.

At the same time, many community banks are also expanding into neighboring towns and new regions themselves. Growth introduces operational complexity—particularly in the management of customer communications. Statements, regulatory notices, and account correspondence often become centralized at head office to ensure compliance and consistency.

The challenge is clear: how do community banks centralize operations and modernize systems without losing the local voice that defines them?

In this Expert Insights session, Rodney Frye shares what he’s hearing directly from leaders inside community banks. Rather than focusing on sweeping transformation initiatives, this discussion centers on practical modernization to support lean teams without adding headcount.

In this video, you’ll learn:

How regional bank expansion is reshaping local competition
Why community bank growth introduces new communication challenges
How centralized management of regulated customer communications is evolving
What structured personalization looks like in practice
How modernization can occur within lean teams — and how banks can grow without increasing headcount

Key Takeaways

Community banks compete on trust and local connection—not pure scale.
Expansion requires centralized governance of branding and compliance.
Personalization must be structured within regulated communications.
Communication teams are lean, limiting large-scale system changes.
Modernization is most effective when layered onto existing systems.
Automation and AI are being explored as efficiency tools—not transformation headlines.

Meet the Host and Guests

HOST
Sharon Jones Malloch
MHC Head of Content Marketing

Read the bio

Sharon leads content marketing at MHC, overseeing strategies that fuel sales and demand generation. With more than a decade of experience in customer communications, Sharon brings deep insight into customer pain points, industry trends, and the critical role of solutions in managing regulatory communications. Before joining MHC, she honed her marketing expertise at Doxim, Messagepoint, and OpenText.

GUEST
Rodney Frye
MHC’s Community Bank Expert
(and SVP New Business Growth)

Read the bio

Rodney Frye is Senior Vice President and Head of New Business Growth at MHC, where he leads go-to-market strategy and revenue expansion across direct and channel sales. A seasoned SaaS sales leader with more than two decades of experience, Rodney has deep expertise helping organizations in financial services, insurance, healthcare, and government modernize operations and customer engagement. Before joining MHC, he held executive roles at Precisely, CEDAR CX Technologies, and Intelledox, driving transformative growth through innovative data and communication solutions. Guided by principles of focus, intentionality, and agility, Rodney builds high-performing teams that accelerate growth and deliver measurable customer impact.

Want to Read Instead of Watching the Video?

Below is the complete transcript from this Expert Insights session with Rodney Frye.
Use the accordion sections to expand and explore the discussion in detail.

Introduction

Sharon: Hi everyone, I’m Sharon Malloch from MHC, and today I’m joined by Rodney Frye, MHC’s community bank expert. Rodney, I know you’ve recently attended some banking events and had face-to-face conversations with people managing communications inside community banks. You have a fresh perspective. So let’s talk about what’s new — what’s changing — and what’s top of mind for them right now.

Q1: What market pressures are community banks facing today?

Rodney: Thanks, Sharon. What I’ve learned is that community banks are at a bit of a crossroads. Larger regional and national banks are moving into smaller towns—you might see a Chase Bank where you’ve never seen one before. Those larger banks operate differently because of their scale: bigger technology investments, broader product offerings, and larger marketing budgets.

Rodney: So community banks are looking at that and asking, How do we compete? How do we stay relevant in our own markets while maintaining that community feel that makes us different?

Q2: How do community banks compete if they can’t outscale larger institutions?

Sharon: They’re clearly not going to outscale those larger banks. They have to compete differently. So when you talk about maintaining that “community feel”… what does that really mean day to day? What does that look like in practice?

Rodney: It’s in the name — community bank. They want to be a trusted advisor. They want to be relevant in that community. It’s personal. It’s knowing your banker. It’s walking in and being recognized. That relationship model is what they rely on.

Sharon: So if the larger banks compete on scale and product breadth, community banks compete on trust and relationship. They’re not trying to be the biggest — they’re trying to be the most connected. Is that fair?

Rodney: Exactly. That’s what they rely on. It’s that loyalty, that local connection. You walk in and they know you. That’s their differentiator.

Q3: Why does growth create new communication challenges for community banks?

Rodney: Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Many of these community banks are also expanding. They’re opening branches in neighboring towns. And every branch represents its own community. So now you’re balancing something new.

Rodney: You still need centralized control — branding, compliance, operational consistency. But you don’t want every branch sounding like it’s coming from corporate headquarters. That’s where it starts to get complicated. That’s where they start asking, How do I keep the local feel, but still run it like a growing bank?

Q4: What tends to become centralized as banks expand?

Sharon: Right, and when you say “run it like a growing bank,” what actually changes internally? What starts to get centralized?

Rodney: As they grow, communications naturally get centralized. Templates get standardized. Compliance language gets controlled in one place. You don’t want every branch creating their own version of the document sent to the customer. That introduces risk and operational costs. But over time, everything can start to feel the same. And if you’re a community bank, that’s not what you want or what has differentiated your bank.

Q5: How can banks allow local personalization while maintaining compliance?

Sharon: You mentioned something very practical when you and I spoke earlier — the idea of allowing branch-level personalization inside regulated customer communications. Can you explain what that might look like?

Rodney: One example is having a defined section in the document where branch-specific content can be inserted. The communication still goes out from a centralized system, but there’s a structured space where local messaging can be incorporated. If something is happening locally—maybe a community event is coming up—that branch could reference it. But that event wouldn’t apply to a branch 20 miles away. It’s not hard to do. It just needs to be structured.

Sharon: So you’re not giving up control — you’re just creating a defined space for local relevance. An area that is personalized for each community and the being directed by the branch manager.

Q6: What are the staffing realities inside most community banks?

Sharon: All of this sounds good in theory, but what’s the reality on the ground in terms of staffing and internal resources?

Rodney: Communication teams are very lean. Small IT staffs, sometimes almost none. Because of that, there’s often an assumption that the kinds of communication systems larger banks use just aren’t realistic. So they either stick with the basic functionality in their core systems or they outsource their customer communications and lose some control.

Rodney: When community banks see they can centralize communications, stay compliant, and still allow structured personalization without adding headcount, that changes the conversation. They don’t have the luxury of hiring five more people just to manage communications.

Q7: How are customer channel expectations influencing communication strategies?

Sharon: And I know personalization today isn’t just about the message — it’s also about how customers receive it. How are community banks thinking today about channel expectations?

Rodney: Community bank customers are like every other customers out there. They expect options now. Some still want paper statements. Others want email. Others want SMS alerts.

Rodney: If you’re managing print one way, email another way, and digital somewhere else, it gets fragmented very quickly. But if you have one system producing everything, you can stay consistent. You can personalize not just the content, but the delivery. It’s another way of preserving that relationship.

Q8: What is the core challenge community banks must solve moving forward?

Sharon: Let me see if I’ve got this right. Community banks are under real pressure from larger institutions moving into their markets. They’re not trying to win on scale. They compete on relationship. On familiarity. On being part of the community.

Sharon: But as they grow, they have to centralize operations. And that’s where the tension comes in. The challenge is preserving that local voice — and honoring customer channel preferences — while still running efficiently with lean teams.

So it’s not about becoming bigger. It’s about being intentional about how communications support that relationship model. Is that a fair summary?

Rodney: That’s a great summary of the challenges out there.

Q9: What advice would you give community bank leaders today?

Sharon: So if you were speaking directly to community bank leaders watching this — what would you tell them right now?

Rodney: I’d say don’t assume these capabilities are out of your reach. You don’t have to give up your local identity to modernize. There are ways to centralize, personalize, and meet customers’ expectations without building a massive team and incurring high cost.

Rodney: You can grow and still stay true to what makes you different.

Closing

Sharon: Rodney, thank you for sharing what you’re hearing from the field.

Rodney: Absolutely. And if anyone watching wants to continue the conversation, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. I’m always happy to connect.

Sharon: Thanks again, Rodney — and thank you to everybody watching. Enjoy the rest of your day.

MHC INTERVIEWHow Community Banks Expand—While Staying Local

Meet the Host and Guests

Want to Read Instead of Watching the Video?

MHC INTERVIEW
How Community Banks Expand—While Staying Local