Julieann Thurlow

Julieann Thurlow, president and CEO of Reading Cooperative Bank, successfully merged her bank with a neighboring one in a deal that brought the asset size of the Massachusetts-based mutual bank past the $1 billion mark this year.

However, this wasn't your average bank M&A deal. Since both institutions are mutual banks there were no price negotiations, even though the merger co-mingled the two banks' assets to a combined $1.23 billion. Instead, Thurlow focused her negotiations around relationship building and aligning the mission and goals of each institution to ensure a smooth transition for their members.

Thurlow told American Banker that a mutual bank merger allows each bank to do more for their communities working together with a combined asset size than they could do separately.