Since its beginning, Heartland Bank has proudly focused on relationships, community involvement and serving its clients with honesty and integrity. This is only possible with associates that work with the same passion and commitment that the bank has operated with for the past 100 plus years. With over 17 years devoted to Heartland, Teri Rice is an associate who found inspiration in 2007 when she walked through the doors of Heartland and hasn’t looked back even once!
Where it all began
Starting as an IT Desktop Support Technician, Teri then progressed to Systems Administrator in less than a year and moved to Distribution Strategies (DS) as an IT Project Analyst in December of 2015. “I am most proud of being a contributing associate for 17 years to help Heartland Bank grow while maintaining our community bank culture. I take pride in the ability to locate and correct system configuration issues before they have a negative impact on the bank or our client accounts,” shared Teri.
According to Ashley Trout, SVP, Director of Strategy, “With a tenure that spans over a decade, Teri stands as the cornerstone of our team. Her unparalleled expertise, unwavering dedication and profound understanding of our work have been instrumental in our success.”
In her role, Teri supports all projects as the IT technical resource on the DS team. It is her responsibility to ensure third-party systems communicate with the bank’s core systems and help troubleshoot various system issues/concerns as they arise. “During one project, I discovered a non-business account that was being charged high monthly fees typically seen on high transaction business accounts. After researching, I discovered this client had a Money Market account which charges for every transaction over six. Further research found this client’s lifestyle changed causing the account to have higher transaction counts. I notified our Retail Operations team, who contacted the client, then moved the account to a product that fit the client’s needs.”
Did Teri go above and beyond for the client? Did she notice something, then act on behalf of the client? YES, she did! This is quality and excellence in action at Heartland, and many associates commit to just this type of performance on a daily basis. In Teri’s words, “Do more than just your assigned ‘job duties’ and pay close attention to details. Heartland truly cares about each and every one of their clients and will go above and beyond to provide quality services.”
Two families
Heartland is also committed to a quality work-life balance for its associates as the Heartland family is an asset for the bank that should be nurtured, protected and celebrated. “Perform your job to the best of your ability but don’t take your job home. If you must, limit the amount of time you spend on work to ensure you balance it with personal/family time,” said Teri.
Teri’s family provides grounding and support. Growing up in the Polaris area of Columbus, Teri graduated from Olentangy High School and not long after married her husband, Mike. After 38 years of marriage, they have two beautiful daughters, Natalie and Melissa. Teri also served for seven years in the Army National Guard and earned a dual Bachelor of Science degree in business management and human resource management.
“I enjoy cruise and land vacations, reading, sewing, cross-stitch, jigsaw puzzles, hiking, going to the gun range and spending time with my girls and family,” shared Teri. She also has lofty travel goals for when she retires in several years and might even take her daughters along too for a few of the trips.
Wondering if Heartland could be your work family? Associates like Teri just might convince you to explore the possibilities that a community bank has to offer. Check out the current openings available at Heartland Bank.