Photo by Bill Green Rick Miller, president and CEO of Woodsboro Bank, occupies an office that is above a former opera house and community building on Main Street in Woodsboro. Purchase this photo

As president and CEO of Woodsboro Bank, his office is above an opera house that once brought people there to hear music and other entertainment.

The bank's original safe sits in the entrance. When the building was renovated a century ago, the safe was rolled across the street for a temporary stay at the Rosebud Perfume Co.

What began as the Woodsboro Savings Bank of Frederick County in 1899 is successful today because of ethical management and integrity. Miller continues that tradition of ethics, integrity and serving the community.

"We are located strictly in Frederick County," Miller said. "Our employees and board members are primarily from Frederick County. When we are better off, the county is better off. That's important to us, our shareholders and the community."

Besides the main office, there are six branches in the county and a commercial loan office in downtown Frederick . Of the bank's 75 employees, one-third are at the main office.

The business, which has the latest in technology from online banking to security measures, has three sets of policies on ethics, Miller said: one for employees, one for directors and one on corporate ethics.

They are not required, by law or regulations.

"But they are encouraged. We also have a hotline that employees can call if they see something suspicious and can do it anonymously. Our bank inspectors will look into it," he said.

About two years ago, the bank began an intensive customer-service training program, Miller said. All employees specified what they do and a mission for each area.

"It helped to define customer service," he said. "We want our employees to look at the customer, greet them by name, ask what we can do for them."

Management and board members are accessible to customers by phone or e-mail, whichever the customer prefers, and can sit down for a talk if the customer wants that.

Woodsboro Bank hasn't had the loan issues so prevalent at other banks, Miller said.

"The last foreclosure we had was in 2000," he said. "But due to the state of the economy, we have customers who face job loss or other problems, and we work with them, give them more time."

Miller said he credits three men for establishing a strong ethics outlook in his life -- Bud Radcliff, Glen Beall and Jim McSherry. All were bankers in the county and all were noted for their high ethical and professional standards.

A Frederick native, Miller graduated from Frederick High School and the University of Maryland. He spent two years in the Army and was looking for a job that offered management training.

He went to work for First National Bank of Maryland in Gaithersburg, and later worked for banks in Frederick County before joining Woodsboro Bank in 1996.

A year later, he was named president and CEO.