A Focus on Relationships Drives Their Business—and Choice of Bank

Entering the third generation of their business, Glover Construction switched from their prior bank to First Citizens Bank because of their focus on service and relationships.

Glover Construction

Matt Glover's father started his family's excavation business during the Great Depression by moving carts of sand up the highway to his grandmother's smokehouse for a penny a load, using goats to move the carts.

Today, Glover Construction is a mass excavation and earth-moving contractor that works with Fortune 100 companies and local municipalities alike across the Southeast, with three generations of Glovers working alongside each other.

When Matt Glover started working in the business himself 45 years ago, he says most of their business was conducted through handshakes—and the relationships they had with their customers and partners were built on trust and communication.

"My dad taught me the value of relationships and how he conducted business a long time ago. And those relationships with customers that we've had over the years—we do a lot of repeat business with the same customers," he says.

As part of the family's third generation in the business, Glover's daughter, Catherine Glover Frazier, now serves as vice president of the company. She's helping to grow it by maintaining a focus on relationships—but also by bringing modern technology into their operations.

"What my daughters have been able to learn and accomplish in a short period of time is amazing to me," Glover says. "A lot of technology we're using today was not being used when I started in the business. And Catherine has done an amazing job going from coast to coast to represent us and sell us to some big clients, including Fortune 100 companies."

Building on relationships

The Glovers switched to First Citizens not long after their previous bank merged with another bank. After the merger, they didn't feel like they were getting the same care or attention they once had.

"The people at First Citizens here in the local branch, they treat us like we're a longtime customer already—even though we haven't been with them long. And they do whatever they can to get us what we need when we walk in the door," Glover says.

Relationships drive the longevity of Glover Construction. Similarly, Glover Frazier says, "First Citizens cares about relationships with all of their customers, and we've experienced that firsthand. That wasn't there with our other banks. And at the end of the day, to run your business you need those relationships."

Glover Frazier says that as soon as she walks in the door at her local branch, she's met with a smile and asked how she's doing. "They know our names, they know our family's names, and everybody there knows and enjoys what we're doing," she says.

Big business with a small-town feel

The Glovers say they appreciate that First Citizens has all the capabilities of a large corporate bank, yet they manage to maintain a small-town, community-centric feel.

"I've never been in the door there that I didn't leave having taken care of what I needed," Glover says. "It's been every time—and that's not always the case with banks. As banks grow and change, oftentimes you lose that, but that's not the case with First Citizens."

From how they operate to how they treat clients when they walk through the doors of a local branch, Glover Frazier believes First Citizens complements who their family is as a business.

"We bank with First Citizens because their values align with who we are as a company—both professionally and personally," she says.  

For generations to come

When the Glovers decided to switch the company's business banking relationship to First Citizens, they also ended up moving all of their personal accounts over.

"We trust them to take care of whatever we need and to advise us on the best paths forward—not only for our business, but for our personal lives and for planning for future generations," Glover says.

Now, with three generations of family members working alongside each other every day at Glover Construction, they feel that First Citizens will be able to help them maintain their legacy.

"My granddad—who's almost 92—this is the legacy he's left not only for our family, but for our employees who've spent careers here," Glover Frazier says. "As a third generation of the business, I know that this is on my shoulders to continue forward—and my driving force now is my son and my nephew and our families."

Glover says the family business has been fun for him and his daughters who work there. "And hopefully, my little grandsons will enjoy doing the same thing someday—making a living playing in the dirt."