The Significance of a Logo
By Chris Cassidy, CEO
Anyone who has seen TCV account statements, letterhead, business cards or company apparel has undoubtedly seen our company logo. If you look closely, you might notice that we have introduced some subtle updates to the logo, while keeping the three plum-colored mountains initially chosen at our founding twenty-five years ago. The changes got me thinking about the significance of the logo and how it came to be.
Our logo has a few different layers of meaning. First, the mountains symbolize Vermont, and our commitment to serving the state’s communities. As an employee-owned and locally controlled organization, we are structured to remain a Vermont-based company in perpetuity.
The choice to depict three mountains is multi-faceted. When the company was founded, there were three physical locations: Brattleboro, Burlington, and Rutland. We still operate in all three of these communities today. In addition, we have added a Manchester office. Unlike institutions with little client engagement, we pride ourselves on being accessible to our clients. Having physical offices where clients can meet with us in person is an important element of the service that we offer.
In addition to physical offices, the mountains represent three important areas of our business: investments, trust administration, and operations. While many institutions focus only on investment management, Trust Company of Vermont has always prided itself on emphasizing all three of these areas equally. Consequently, each mountain in our logo is the same size. TCV’s Executive Committee includes the Chair’s of the Investment Committee, the Trust Administration Committee, and the Head of our Operations Department, because we feel all three of these functions should have a voice when making important management decisions.
The plum color hearkens back to the Vermont National Bank days before the creation of TCV. As legend has it, two VNB trust officers, who both later became Founders of TCV, were to give a presentation to a board to win a large account. Nanette Stevens and Rich Pearce, without prior coordination, both arrived at the meeting in plum attire. The presentation was a success, they landed the account, and plum was already considered a lucky color when Trust Company of Vermont was founded.
Personally, as a proud graduate of Brattleboro Union High School, I was accustomed to wearing plum uniforms, and was excited to come to a company where plum is the featured color. My favorite shirt in my closet is a TCV plum polo with our logo in white.
Those three plum-colored mountains mean a lot to us. Like our logo, Trust Company of Vermont remains true to our roots while welcoming the considered changes that keep us fresh.