Matt Cavanaugh, controller at International City Bank (ICB), first encountered the benefits of community banking while he was working at The LGBTQ Center in Long Beach.

The Center is a nonprofit that offers valuable services to the community, such as sexually transmitted disease testing, youth programs, a free legal clinic, domestic violence prevention and protection services, and mental health counseling and training.

Matt worked at The Center for several years as the organization’s Chief Financial Officer and general council, first meeting with ICB when it was time to refinance The Center’s mortgage.

ICB gave The Center such a great deal on their mortgage, Matt said, and was so much better to work with than the “big bank” they were with before, the organization decided to switch all of their banking over to ICB.

Not long after that, when it was time to move on to a new job, Matt went to work for ICB.

Matt compared himself to Victor Kiam in those old “I liked the shaver so much, I bought the company!” ads, saying he liked his bank so much, he went to work for them.

The difference, Matt said, between ICB and the “big banks,” is community banking.

“I used to love coming over to make deposits because walking in, everybody knew my name—it’s like the ‘Cheers’ of banking,” Matt said. “They didn’t just know my name, they knew the company I was with; they knew our needs and our goals.”

Matt said he never got any sales pitches from ICB for things he or his company didn’t need, and that when he called, a live person always answered.

“It’s such a different experience from ‘big banking’,” Matt says.

ICB, based in downtown Long Beach, provides commercial and business banking services including SBA preferred lending, cash management, online business services, and merchant services.

For more information, visit ICB’s website www.icb.biz or call (562) 436-9800