Helping managers manage.

Title: Vice president and chief financial officer, Willow Grove Bank FSB, Maple Glen, PA

[Expanded Picture]New post: Took over in May as chairman of the Financial Managers Society, the professional education group headquartered in Chicago. FMS has about 2,000 members at financial institutions around the countty, most of them community banks, thrifts and credit unions in the $100 million-$500 million range, says Foff. Was vice chairman last year.

Routing advice: With 27 chapters, the FMS offers seminars and publications aimed at helping financial executives deal with critical balance sheet issues like interest rate risk, asset/liability management and profitability analysis. Recently did a white paper on interest rate risk, and publishes an internal audit manual and bulletins on hot topics such as FASB accounting standards,

In-person help?: Foff says there's a special emphasis on signing up members for a "peer consulting directory" of bankers willing to talk to others one-on-one or in groups about specific issues.

Common issues. No matter what type of institution you work for, Foff says, the concerns are very similar. We've had people who've worked at banks, then gone to credit unions or thrifts and maybe back again, and they say the issues are pretty much the same." Adds that in talking to peers, "I can see what experiences others have had, and I don't have to reinvent the wheel. It cuts to the quick."

Background: Foff, 44, joined Willow Grove in 1986 as vice president and treasurer, and became CFO a year later. Has a bachelor's degree in business administration from LaSalle University in Philadelphia.

Good beginninng: Jokes that he got involved with the FMS in 1976 when he went to a local session at a superior's request and got "all the free drinks and all the shrimp cocktail I could want. Plus I got to talk to some pretty knowledgeable people about investments."

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