Chris Holmes
Chris Holmes - Banking Center Manager, Muncie, IN
Chris Holmes wanted to have a voice. It was 2019, and he was commuting outside of Muncie to work – something that began to bother him more and more as time went on.
“I realized that I wasn’t having the impact I knew I could have if I worked in my hometown,” he recalled. “I was involved in the Chamber of Commerce in the town I worked in, but it was hard to build that trust – people weren’t seeing me out and about every day, and I was missing those connections that happen when you run into someone on the street.”
Soon, that itch grew into determination.
“I started to develop this passion for working in Muncie, where I lived, so I looked for jobs in the area – that’s how I found First Merchants. I thought being able to have a voice in the community in banking was going to be the right move for me, and I’m really glad First Merchants was able to offer that.”
Chris joined First Merchants in February of 2020 as the Banking Center Manager of our Yorktown branch, and later moved to the Northwest branch in Muncie – and said the job is everything he’d dreamed of.
“I like that First Merchants is still community-driven even though we’re growing – we’re still so committed to our community values, and that’s what makes us so impactful,” he explained.
And that hunch he had was right – Chris runs into bank customers while he’s out running errands or attending local events. It’s enabled him to build strong connections and to think hard about what his community needs.
Last year, for example, he noticed that his banking center was seeing a lot of elderly customers who’d run afoul of fraud attempts.
“Being on this side of the desk and having customers who have been scammed out of hundreds and thousands of dollars made me realize how vulnerable that age group is, and that we really needed to do everything we could to help,” he shared.
Chris went to the county senior center to chat with the director about options. Now, First Merchants teaches a regular, free workshop on fraud.
“We go over how folks can protect themselves and give them red flags to keep an eye out for,” he explained. “It’s gone over really well – our first class, we were scheduled for an hour, and we were there for more than an hour and a half because people just had so many questions.”
On the other end of the age spectrum, he also works with Motivate Our Minds, a local non-profit after-school program that serves children from low- and middle-income families. There, he’s teaching financial literacy – everything from how to start saving to how to write a check.
“I noticed growing up and going through public school that there’s a gap in financial literacy,” he shared. “I had to rely on other sources for that information. For me, that was my parents – but not all parents are good at managing finances. For those kids, if they don’t have somewhere else to learn those skills, there’s an increased chance that they’ll struggle financially when they start managing their own money.”
The kids are eager to learn, and Chris said he’s looking forward to continuing the partnership.
He also volunteers his time at a local non-profit business networking group and with a local youth athletic league. In what little spare time he has, Chris is working towards earning his degree.
Overall, he’s proud of everything he’s been able to accomplish with a leading community bank in Muncie, and he hopes he can continue to have a positive impact as Muncie's attentive local banker.
First Merchants Bank’s commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility compels us to invest in our communities by finding ways to reduce inequalities, improve the quality of our neighborhoods, and promote positive economic mobility though our five community pillars: Employee Empowerment; Community Investments and Charitable Giving; Financial Wellness; Community Home Lending; and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This series features First Merchants teammates who embody the spirit and impact of the company’s Vision: “to enhance the financial wellness of the diverse communities we serve.”
