Cover Story
The best investment
How Chuck Gummer finds and develops talent to grow Comerica Bank
By Kristy J. O’Hara
Smart Business Dallas | October 2009
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Chuck Gummer has been working for Comerica Bank for 39 years. These days, it’s a rarity to see someone with the same company for that length of time, but then again, that’s what his company is all about.
The banking giant has been around for 160 years, and it attributes the majority of its successful growth to having long-tenured employees who are able to grow and develop within the business.
So it’s no surprise that Gummer started with the bank in Michigan, and when it moved into the Texas region 20 years ago, he was on board with that and now is president of the bank’s Texas market, which consists of overseeing 1,500 employees in the Metroplex, Houston and Austin.
In order to see that both the Texas region and the bank as a whole continue growing, Gummer focuses on recruiting the best people to the organization and then working to develop them within the business.
“You have to have a perspective on your company and where you want it to be over time,” he says. “If you want it to be around a long time and you want it to have a truly life of its own, then having a stewardship approach of people and developing leaders is very important to doing that.”
