If you’re looking for advice on how to be involved in your community, there’s no better mentor than Bert Talerman, first executive vice president and executive lending officer at Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank. “Bert has spent decades being a role model of how to become engaged in the community,” said Dorothy Savarese, president and CEO of Cape Cod Five Cents.
That engagement begins at the bank, where Talerman is the leader of all lending, vice chairman of the bank’s charitable foundation and also the official “number two,” helping to run the bank as a whole, Savarese said.
Talerman appreciates how the smaller size of a community bank allows him to be more involved.
“I decided relatively early on in my career that I preferred the role of more local banker rather than big banker,” he said. “Big financing and working with large companies is really important, as well, but I like the idea of being a little bit closer to the customer, a little bit closer to being able to see the impact that both the customer achieves and the institution achieves.”
Outside of the bank, Talerman is chairman of the board for Coastal Community Capital, a member of the board of trustees at Cape Cod Healthcare and a member of the board of directors at the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, where he’ll be joining the executive committee this June.
But even an official list of Talerman’s community service work fails to account for all he does for his community.
“Wherever I go, people tell me stories of things that Bert has done behind the scenes, whether that’s to mentor executives of nonprofits or to volunteer at his church with people who are seeking jobs,” Savarese said, adding he’s continually working to support the John F. Kennedy Library, even though he’s not officially involved.
Wendy Northcross, CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, described Talerman as “a really nice, pleasant person that seems to be everywhere.”
Despite his active involvement across the community, Savarese and Northcross emphasized that Talerman is never one to seek the limelight.
“He has a very quiet manner. He has a way of taking someone aside and giving them very insightful, sometime very courageous advice, that is so valued,” Savarese said.
“He’s really kind of quiet,” Northcross echoed. “He’ll just come up to me after a meeting to share some insight, but he’s never interested in holding court at the meeting. He just takes it all in and analyzes the information he hears.”
For Talerman, listening to others, whether at the bank or in the community, is an important part of helping others and making the Cape a better place for residents to live.
“It’s fun to get involved in things where you get to hear lots of other people’s perspectives on issues,” Talerman said, “and ultimately the goal is that, together, you can help things move forward that are good for the overall wellbeing of the community.”
