Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

A Pension Believer

For most of the private sector, pension plans have gone into retirement. That’s true of our list of Florida’s Best Companies to Work For. Only one of the 100 has a pension available to the mass of its employees: Capital City Bank, a 917-employee community bank based in Tallahassee.

“We are a company that believes you take care of the people who take care of you,” says COO Bethany H. Corum. The bank in 2000 reduced the pension benefit “slightly” for new hires, but Corum says the goal when it’s combined with a company 401(k) plan is for all workers of comparable pay and experience to come out equal.

Bethany H. Corum

“It’s an important piece in recognizing someone’s contribution to our company and making our company successful.” — Bethany H. Corum, COO of Capital City Bank

Corum says the bank from time to time has weighed the “advantages and disadvantages” of keeping the pension plan. One disadvantage: “It’s not inexpensive.” She declined to discuss costs but, according to the company’s last annual U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the company in each of the most recent three years has put in $5 million, plus shouldered administrative and other costs. That’s nearly $5,500 per employee.

Employees are fully vested in the pension plan after 10 years. They’re eligible to join the 401(k) on their first day and are vested in the match — 50% up to 6% of pay — at three years. Some 68% of the bank’s workers have been there more than five years; 15% have been there more than 25 years.

Corum says the bank gets approximately 5,000 applications for the 150 openings it averages a year. “Usually we have a good selection of folks,” she says.

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