In the midst of shopping around for banks, Dave Marks, Vice President of Finance & Administration for BrightFocus Foundation saw that Sandy Spring Bank had the key ingredients they were looking for — superior customer service, a reliable approach, and the accessibility of speaking to representatives at any given time.

Before John Paukstis became President and CEO for Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland in 2006, Sandy Spring Bank had already been the organization’s banking partner. He could tell immediately that Sandy Spring Bank had a mission to support local nonprofits and be an advocate for the community.

Since 1981, Education Week has been the cornerstone national resource for K-12 news and information with the mission to make sure that every child in this country has access to a high-quality education. When Michele Givens joined the organization in 2001 as General Manager, she understood the multiple streams of revenue that Education Week generates. In 2016, when she was appointed President and CEO, she knew that they needed a bank to understand their diverse financial needs.

It was just over 10 years ago, in October 2010, that Axiom Resource Management selected Sandy Spring Bank. How does Axiom Senior Vice President of Finance Tekle Afeworki rate the choice? “The calendar tells the story. Sandy Spring Bank has been our bank for a decade,” he said. “In those years, we had been approached many times by other banks, but I can tell you those have been fairly short conversations.”

After retiring from a 30-year career as a US Navy officer, Johnny Walker was ready to apply his expertise in the private sector and start his own business.

Founded a little over 12 years ago, Illinois-based Kranze Technology Solutions designs and builds high-tech digital equipment, primarily for use by the U.S. military. For the first couple of years, the company operated using a fairly modest line of credit extended to it by the major national bank with which it was then working.

Before choosing Sandy Spring Bank a little over five years ago, Quadrant Inc. had worked with “about six different banks,” says Quadrant CEO and founder Cait Vargas-Cissel. “We tried lots of different banks and, lots of different kinds of banks, but we never found one that felt like a partner until we came to Sandy Spring Bank.”

In the nine years ATSI Corp. has done its banking with Sandy Spring Bank, its business has grown exponentially — from three employees, to 10, to 50 to currently near 100 — with ATSI’s revenue growth on an even higher trajectory.