She started full time with the Chamber on July 1, 1979, when she was 17. The previous summer, at age 16, she had worked there through a youth employment program.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what a Chamber was,” she said.
Banks’ great-aunt, who worked at the organization, suggested she join the program. When the woman who previously held Banks’ first full-time position left to start a family, Banks “kind of fell into the job,” which was then a secretarial role.
In 1979, the Chamber had six employees. Since 2020, the staff has consisted of just two full-time employees: Banks, the office manager, and President and CEO Rick Pearce.
Even as leadership changed over the years, Banks remained a constant.
Pearce, who has worked closely with her since becoming CEO in 2013, first met Banks in the early 1990s when he was involved with Middfest International.
His first impression, he said, was that she was “very nice and knowledgeable.”
“She has been the face of the organization for a very long time,” Pearce said. “People just knew she was going to be here and that she was always here. She’s fulfilled her role at the highest levels of integrity and ethics, and she has smiled at everybody, talked to everybody and been exemplary in the position. She has been a great ambassador for the organization.”
Banks said many of the people she worked with early on “are not around anymore.”
One who still is: Roger Conner, owner of Flowers by Roger, who met Banks when they were both teenagers.
“I had no idea we would be getting old together,” Conner said.
Conner started his flower business in his parents’ basement at age 15 in 1975 and was the youngest person to join the Chamber.
When he met Banks, he said, “Oh gosh, I liked her. She was young, and she was excited. I was young, too, so it was nice to meet someone that was young and in business and had aspirations and goals.”
He said her greatest strength is her personality.
“It’s way beyond professional,” he said. “She’s such a supporter of so many things, and she’s a quiet voice that moves mountains.”
Another person who’s still around: Kenny Cohen of Cohen Recycling.
Cohen said Banks has been the “glue” that has held the Chamber together for the past 47 years.
“She’s the go-to person, she has everything at her fingertips,” he said. “She’s always got a smile on her face. And she’s the one person, really, when we talk about the Chamber in Middletown, that everybody refers to.”
Liz Arnold, an upcoming Miami University graduate, has been hired as Banks’ replacement. She has worked closely with Banks over the past few months to learn the day-to-day responsibilities. In early March, the Chamber switched its voicemail greeting from Banks’ voice to Arnold’s.
Though it marked a major transition, Banks said it wasn’t “really” emotional.
“After all this time, I’m ready,” she said.
Banks married in 1984 and has two sons and six grandchildren, with a seventh due in July. After retiring, she expects to babysit but is also looking forward to traveling, gardening and being “bored.”
“I’m going to miss everybody,” she said. “I’ve made a lot of friends.”
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