Market Leader’s Experience as Title-Winning Lacrosse Star Informs Success of a Centric Bank Devon Office

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Chris Bickel Centric Bank
Images via Centric Bank.
Chris Bickel.

As the Senior Vice President and Market Leader of the Centric Bank commercial lending office in Devon, Chris Bickel leans on the experience he gained as a lacrosse player to grow and service an expanding portfolio of clients.

A Berwyn native, Bickel was an all-state lacrosse player at Conestoga High School. He earned an athletic scholarship to Syracuse University, where he helped lead the Orange to a pair of national championships as a face-off specialist.

After an internship with Commerce Bank, he joined its King of Prussia office after college.

“I told the CEO that I love people and that I’m good with numbers,” he said. “I began work there as an analyst, where I learned the workings of the bank from the back to the front.” 

Bickel and his family eventually relocated to the Harrisburg area to be closer to his wife’s family. He remained in the banking business, servicing customers mainly in the suburban Philadelphia and South Jersey markets, before joining Centric Bank five and half years ago. Though he still lives in the Harrisburg area, where Centric Bank is headquartered, Bickel spends most of each week working in Devon.

Chris Bickel earned a lacrosse scholarship to Syracuse University, where he helped the Orange win a pair of national championships.

“Our bank is a boutique, niche bank that really has an opportunity to excel in this marketplace, based on our target market,” he said. “We work with entrepreneurs, real estate developers, medical and dental professionals. And we provide similar services as a large bank would offer, such as construction loans, equipment financing, and SBA loans; we cover all the lending parameters. The difference is we offer a much more personalized and flexible banking experience than you will find at a big bank.”

After an auspicious start as a top producer at the bank, Bickel was approached by CEO Patti Husic to lead the newly opened Devon office. Under his guidance, the team there has expanded to four lenders, a portfolio manager, three analysts, and other officers, while also expanding their portfolio of clients.

“In the commercial banking area that has so much static going on, we excel at providing a clear solution to pretty much any situation,” Bickel said. “We pride ourselves on figuring out a way to say ‘yes,’ and we’re extremely skilled at structuring deals.”

As the market leader, Bickel credits much of his leadership success to his years in lacrosse.

“A lot of how I run my office and run this business is from what I learned through athletics,” he said.

“We used to say three things when we broke out of a huddle at Syracuse: Head, Heart, Hustle. Your head is No. 1. Hustle should be 110 percent, because it doesn’t matter if you’re the best or not, you can always hustle. And you always need your heart involved in anything.

“All that speaks volumes for the type of bank we are.”

As a face-off specialist who endeavored to gain possession of the ball to ignite the offense, Bickel was able to differentiate himself from other players. It’s another aspect of his personality that serves him well at Centric Bank.

“The face-off guy is like the quarterback on the field,” he said. “It’s all up to you and the pressure is on you, but I love the pressure. If you talk to any of my team members, they will tell you there is high energy in this office, and we hold everyone to high expectations like we did on the lacrosse team.

“But it enables us each day to do what’s right for our clients and to make sure we live up to our tag line: We Revolve Around You.”

Learn more about Centric Bank.

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