By William Hinkle
BEACON HILL -- When Donna Petro moved to Beacon Hill three weeks ago, the first thing she did was sell her car. Living and working in the same neighborhood allows her to walk to work, often stopping to chat with neighbors and customers.
"I have to leave a little bit earlier because I always run into people, but I love it because Beacon Hill really is just a neighborhood that has a close, family feel to it," Petro said.
For Petro, president of the Beacon Hill Business Association, cultivating a sense of community is essential to her work with the association and as the vice president and branch manager of Cambridge Trust, located a few doors down from the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Street.
Born in Chelsea and raised in Waltham, Petro began working at Cambridge Trust five years ago. Prior to that, she worked at HSBC in New York for about twenty years.
"The change was a culture shock to me, because I went from a huge company to a small one," Petro said. "I love it though, because my background and training is in being involved with a community."
Cambridge Trust's customer service provides amenities to clients such as the dog bone-shaped can full of dog treats on Petro's desk and a water dish at the door.
"Dogs sometimes pull customers who don't need to go to the bank into the office, because they remember how well we take care of them," Petro said.
There is a relaxed approach in the small, one-room branch said Basharat Sheikh, the assistant branch manner at the Beacon Street Cambridge Trust. The relaxed approach translates into a friendly atmosphere that can be attributed to Petro's willingness to laugh and her amiable approach to clients and co-workers alike.
"We are good at what we do because we can laugh and have fun," Petro said.
In addition to her position at Cambridge Trust, Petro's membership of the all-volunteer Beacon Hill Business Association for the past four and a half years made her a part of the neighborhood. In January, she began her stint as the association's president. She was chosen, she said, because of her experience as treasurer for the past three years.
John Delano, treasurer of the association and owner of Delano Insurance, is confident Petro will excel in her new position.
"Donna is a great listener, and thus has a grasp of what is going on in the business community, as well as among residents," he said.
Petro's sense of community extends well beyond her work and Beacon Hill. Her two passions, she said, are her two grandsons and the Boston Red Sox. Although her grandsons, ages 5 and 4, live in Texas, Petro instilled a sense of pride in her hometown in them, teaching them to be die-hard Red Sox fans. Because of her strong sense of community, the people in Petro's life are always made to feel like a member of her neighborhood.