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Bank Manager Keeps Customer Focus

D'Ann Lawrence White, Tribune photo

Brandon’s honorary mayor, George May, presents a proclamation to Frances Register proclaiming May 12, 2008, Frances Register Day in honor of her 50 years of service to Sunshine State Federal Savings and Loan.

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 21, 2008

BRANDON - In her 50 years in the banking business, Frances Register has seen the days of approving loans with a warm handshake give way to online processing, in which banker and client may never meet.

And while bank customers once meticulously logged their withdrawals and deposits in bank books, now they simply head to the nearest ATM machine or produce their debit cards from their wallets and let computers figure out their balances.

But Register, assistant vice president and branch manager of Sunshine State Federal Savings and Loan's Brandon office, says one thing has remained constant in her business over the past five decades.

"People still appreciate customer service," she said, adding that the key to her longevity and success is simple but surefire. "I've had customers follow me for more than 25 years because they know that they're going to be treated like family."

Still, 50 years is a long time to work for one company. Register was just 18 when she joined what was then First Federal Savings and Loan of Plant City.

"To stay with any company, not just banking, for 50 years is quite an accomplishment," said the institution's president, Floyd Hall. "It's especially unusual in the banking business. It's a tough business. Bankers tend to jump from one bank to another."

Hall said his bank has proven the exception.

"We're only 54 years old but, in addition to Frances, we have a few employees who are pushing 40 years now," he said. He attributes the lack of attrition to treating employees like family.

"It's important to take care of the people who work for you," he said. "They're your most significant asset."

The employees at the Brandon branch had hoped to surprise Register with a party on her May 12 anniversary, inviting former and current customers, co-workers, family members and associates with the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce, where Register has served on the board and has been active since the early 1980s.

"But not much gets past Frances," said co-worker Sandy Atwood. "She figured it out before we could surprise her."

But Register wasn't expecting a proclamation from Brandon Honorary Mayor George T. May IV proclaiming May 12 Frances Register Day. Nor did she expect the seemingly endless flow of well-wishers who dropped by the branch throughout the day to congratulate her.

Among them were Eleanor and Bob Bitz of Plant City, who became Register's customers when they moved to Plant City in 1988.

"We knew right away that she would be our banker," Bob Bitz said. "Her personality was perfect for us. Over the years, she's always been there. She's helped us with a lot of things and always made us feel special."

Although Register lives in Plant City with her husband, Henry, she said she has always felt equally at home in Brandon. After all, she was born in her grandmother's Valrico home in 1940. Her parents were farmers, and she grew up in Dover surrounded by strawberry fields and citrus groves.

She attended Turkey Creek School, where she excelled in math. Upon graduation in 1956, she landed a job as a teller and bookkeeper at First Federal. She was the fourth employee hired at the S&L.

The bank was founded by a group of Plant City businessmen in 1954 to provide home loans to residents having trouble purchasing their first homes. In 1960, the savings and loan opened a second office in the 1950s-style building at 420 W. Brandon Blvd. that Register now manages.

There was just one other financial institution in Brandon at the time, Brandon State Bank - now SunTrust Bank - right across the street.

In 1972, First Federal opened a branch office in Riverview, and then in 1975 it opened its Zephyrhills branch. Four years ago, when the bank celebrated it 50th anniversary with more than $178 million in assets, the name was changed to Sunshine State Federal Savings and Loan Association.

Register, 68, said she has no plans to retire. She said she loves working and wouldn't know what to do with herself if she couldn't make that drive from Plant City to Brandon every weekday - although the drive took her 10 minutes when she was first assigned to the Brandon branch 17 years ago and it now takes 25.

When she first started working at the Brandon branch, she quickly immersed herself in chamber activities, with special emphasis on the ambassador's program recruiting and welcoming new chamber members.

Sunshine State board of directors and chamber member Julian Craft refers to Register as "the First Lady of Brandon," noting that she is always on hand to provide a gracious welcome to new businesses in the area. Her work led to the chamber naming her the 2002 Ambassador of the Year.

Her husband, who retired from Coca-Cola Co.'s public relations department, said he fully supports his wife's decision to continue working.

Between rounds of golf, Henry Register said, he is perfectly happy doing laundry, ironing and taking on other household chores while she's running the bank branch and performing various duties for the chamber.

"We'd just get in each other's way," he said playfully.

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.

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