Twenty-one years ago Steve Ainger had no idea where Huntsville was and no desire to call the small town home. However, that all changed when he and his family relocated here and Steve became Huntsville’s Scotiabank branch manager.
“We fell in love with the community,” said Ainger. “It was a family and career decision to stay put. Nobody wanted to leave.”
Ainger started his career with Scotiabank in Ottawa in 1977. In 1995 he was relocated to Huntsville. A quick 21 years later Ainger retired as the branch manager on October 31. Now, he says, he’s looking forward to spending more time with his wife, grand kids, travelling and getting even more involved in the community. “It felt like the right time,” Ainger said. “There are lots of things to be done.”
Over the years, Ainger has been involved with groups such as the Hospital Foundation, the Terry Fox Foundation and Chrysalis. “One of my greatest sources of pride was working on the creation of the women’s shelter,” said Ainger. “I worked as part of the group that got it built, got it off the ground and was a director for a number of years.”
One of the things he enjoyed most about his time at Scotiabank in Huntsville was working with like-minded people. “This branch and their enthusiasm with contributing to the community over the years has been awesome,” he said. “They’ve chosen some really interesting things to support, and they’ve done fun things and raised a lot of money. Almost every dollar raised, the bank has matched.”
Even though Ainger is retired, he’s been roped into baking for the bank’s bake sale on November 28. The bake sale is to raise money to help support a family through a program with the Salvation Army.
When I look back over the years at the things they’ve (Huntsville’s Scotiabank branch) accomplished, it’s part of what made it fun to work here. I’m very proud of the staff here. The branch is rated monthly on the quality of the service through a survey and we’ve always had very high customer satisfaction. But the other thing is, this is a training branch. Seeing the number of young people who have gone through this branch, and are now branch managers, and how they’ve been influenced working in this branch, is pretty neat.Steve Ainger on his 21 years as Huntsville’s Scotiabank branch manager
The new branch manager is no stranger to Steve. “I’ve known Scott Mullen for about 25 years. He’s probably as excited about being in Muskoka as I am. It’s a great thing he wanted to come here so badly,” said Ainger. “He’s going to be really good.”
Mandi Hargrave
About Mandi Hargrave
Mandi was no stranger to Muskoka growing up and as she got older she knew this was the place she wanted to call home. She loves time with her dog, being outside and laughs shared with friends. She loves sitting down to chat and hear your story, one you’ll hopefully let her share with the Huntsville community.
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Steve will be missed at the bank but we are so lucky to have more of him in the community. Steve is what makes Huntsville so great!!! Enjoy the retirement.