Catherine Rioux

Assistant Vice President, Commercial Loan Officer, Monson Savings Bank: Age 34

Catherine Rioux

Catherine Rioux is a textbook example, pun intended, of how internships, at both the college and high-school level, can not only introduce young people to careers, but help businesses keep talent in the pipeline.

Rioux interned in the Human Resources department at Monson Savings Bank (MSB) while in high school as part of a class in business and entrepreneurship, an initiative called ‘work-based learning.’

The experience left her intrigued by the financial-services sector, enough to make her want to stay at the bank, even though she wasn’t old enough to even work on the teller line.

“I continued to learn and just be a part of it, and earning a little bit of money was cool, too, when I was 15,” she said, adding that she answered phones and handled other duties after school. “My grandma would pick me up from school and drop me off for my shift, and either she or my mom or dad would pick me up.”

Rioux kept working at MSB through high school and again while earning a business degree at Western New England University, leaving the company for a short time her senior year. But when she graduated, she returned to MSB as a loan servicer receptionist, then worked her way up to her current role as assistant vice president and commercial loan officer.

“I don’t want to say it just happened,” she said of her career. “It was a lot of organic growth and organic learning; I always wanted to learn more and do more and stay busy. The bank gave me a lot of opportunities because I showed the initiative to take on projects, big or small.”

Active in the community, Rioux serves on the town of Monson’s scholarship committee and the Monson Free Library committee. She has also volunteered her time to build bikes for local disadvantaged youths, fill backpacks in support of the United Way’s Stuff the Bus campaign, and work with the Revitalize Community Development Corp. program known as #GreenNFit Neighborhood Rebuild. Previously, she served as a Lighthouse advisory board member for I Found Light Against All Odds, and with the Ludlow Rotary Club Charitable Foundation.

Rioux said she’s looking forward to bringing her son with her on a #GreenNFit assignment or some of her other work so he can get involved and understand the importance of giving back. That’s another thing she learned on that internship.

—George O’Brien