When it’s Your Hometown, It Matters More
Marquette is THE HOMETOWN BANK, the only remaining locally headquartered bank in Erie County. Every dollar stays right here in the communities we serve to Mpower™ individuals and families to prosper, businesses to succeed, communities to be better places and employees to be their best.
When you are THE HOMETOWN BANK, you look beyond the numbers to envision what could be. You see businesses growing and jobs created, families prospering and buying homes and lives changed for the better. Because when it's your hometown, it matters more. That is the Marquette Difference.
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Mpowering™ Communities
At Marquette, every dollar stays local to help improve the quality of life. Each year Marquette commits more than $425,000 to nonprofit causes — children, poverty, health, education and community assets that make a difference.
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Mpowering™ Businesses
Marquette has enjoyed record growth every year since its inception in 2009. Our local focus ensures that locally owned and operated businesses not only get the attention they deserve but the financing they need to be successful.
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Mpowering™ People
Marquette was founded nearly 110 years ago to help local residents with home ownership and improvements. Today Marquette is renowned for its mortgage expertise and is a preferred resource for home buyers. Our focus on the customer is also the driving force behind our continual investment in technology and services. Marquette has a reputation for being first to market with technologies that provide value.
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Mpowering™ Employees
Marquette employees are “Mpowered™." Our employees are provided with very competitive compensation and benefits. Our culture fosters a caring and collaborative environment that brings out the best in everyone. And, Marquette provides an extensive training program that keeps everyone up-to-date while enabling self-directed learning opportunities to help employees advance. Our Mpowered™4 program provides employees with four hours paid time to participate in a volunteer activity of their choice.
History
The "hometown" concept began in the early 1900s when a group of 38 local businessmen formed with a common purpose of stimulating savings and loan programs to help local residents with home ownership and improvements. These businessmen, members of the Knights of Columbus, served as a social auxiliary to the Erie council and named themselves The Marquette Club.
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Jacques Marquette
Named in honor of Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary, this group played an important part in the many successes of the Erie council. It was the financial arm of the local council as it provided financial support of maintaining and operating the council chambers and clubrooms.
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Knights of Columbus
Many members who were responsible for the birth of this club also formed an organization for the purpose of creating a place where members of the Knights of Columbus could invest their savings and obtain mortgages to build their homes. Originally chartered only for use by Knights of Columbus members, the by-laws were later amended to permit any local resident to join.
Timeline
The Beginning
Marquette was formally established in April 1908 when the following members were elected to offices: Charles P. Deuser as president; Frank D. Schultz as vice president; William H. Kneib as recording secretary; and Dr. F. C. Callaghan as treasurer. On May 27, 1908, then-Pennsylvania Governor Edwin S. Stuart approved the institution they had created under the name “Marquette Building and Loan Association,” with assets of $2 million.
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1908 through 1939
Business transactions were held at various locations along State Street in downtown Erie for a two-hour period on Tuesday evenings. Deuser retired in 1920 and John J. Mead, Sr., was elected president, a position he held until his death in 1941. Under Mead the association moved into a small office area in the newly constructed Erie Daily Times building on 110 West Tenth Street. With two desks and a counter, the association began daily transactions.
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1939 through 1951
As business increased, new headquarters were rented in April 1939 at 920 Peach Street. In 1945, the association purchased the building where the bank’s main office has been located ever since. In 1951 the association was admitted as a member in the Federal Home Loan Bank system and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation.
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1951 through 1960
B. A. Brugger succeeded Mead as president of the association until 1955. In 1958, the association's 50th anniversary, President H. A. Obert announced assets had reached $15.5 million.
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The Frank Vogt Years 1960 through 2002
In 1960, Frank L. Vogt became the bank’s president, a position he held for 42 years. In 1963 the first of five regional branch offices opened in Meadville, Pa., and the following year another opened in the Liberty Shopping Center, located in Erie. The membership approved a name change in 1971 and the association became known as Marquette Savings Association. In 1993, a new charter was granted to better serve Erie area customers, and the name was changed to Marquette Savings Bank.
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The Michael B. Edwards Years 2002 to 2022
In 2002, Michael B. Edwards succeeded Vogt to become the bank’s chief executive officer and remains in that position today. Under his leadership, Marquette constructed an additional three full-service offices in Erie and added a drive-thru branch office on Park Avenue in Meadville. In late August 2009, Marquette acquired three former National City Bank offices in Crawford county bringing to 12 the total number of offices in Erie and Crawford counties.
In 2013, Marquette embarked on a $3.2 million capital improvement project in Meadville, Pa. which includes the demolition of its drive-thru branch and in its place, the construction of a full-service, regional office. More improvements followed including the construction of a new drive-thru office on North Street and renovations to Marquette’s original Meadville location on South Main Street.
In 2017, the growth in business banking was the catalyst for additional investments in facilities. In Crawford County, the South Main Street office was remodeled once again to accommodate Business Banking growth and the consolidation of retail services to the new Park Avenue branch located nearby. The Main office at 920 Peach Street was expanded with the purchase of the building at the corner of West 10th and Peach Streets. Work was completed at Marquette's Vernon Township office creating a modern branch to to replace the smaller Walmart in — store branch office, along with the restoration of our Conneaut Lake office.
In 2021, the completion of Marquette's new Innovation Learning Center located at 930 Peach Street, in the heart of Erie’s Innovation District was completed. The 15,000-square-foot space speaks to Marquette’s commitment to the community, making sure you understand how to use innovative banking technology in a safe and secure manner.
In 2022, Michael B. Edwards retired as Chief Executive Officer at Marquette Savings Bank after being at the Bank for 34 years and CEO for 20 of those years.
Today, Marquette over 150 employees in 12 locations serving Erie and Crawford counties. Assets are now approximately $1.2 billion as of January 2022 and we plan to keep them working for us right here in our community, where the hometown customer is our only customer.
For over a century, one thing has stood the test of time and that is Marquette Savings Bank’s "Hometown Touch." It's what has set Marquette apart from the beginning and what customers still experience today-where people who know you still answer the phone and where the customer still comes first.
When you take a good look around, we hope you see our hometown as we do - full of possibilities. Because when it’s your hometown, it matters more.
