Mark Sexton is a Cape Cod guy, and his affinity for the area is crucial to his success in his field and his support of the community. The married father of three sons lives in Hyannis, where he spent his summers as a kid, racing his sailboat.
When his colleague Mark Skala nominated Sexton for a Community Bank Hero Award, he named no fewer than 10 Hyannis nonprofits Sexton supports, followed by the words, “to name a few.”
“In addition, Mark works tirelessly with many businesses in town, providing them with commercial lending expertise and much more than a commercial loan,” Skala wrote. “He partners with many businesses to help them achieve the success they need. He cares deeply for this community and is a strong advocate and voice for business and causes in town.”
Sexton started at Bank of Cape Cod about a month before it opened 10 years ago, and he loves it. His involvement in local nonprofits is an outgrowth of his lifelong love of the area and its people.
“Business people down here like dealing with people who know Cape Cod and understand the seasonality of the market and are willing to work with them,” Sexton said. “We know their business and believe in it. Someone from off-Cape probably doesn’t have that same vision.”
Elizabeth Wurfbain is the executive director of the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District. In her nomination she described how Sexton’s can-do attitude coupled with his deep connections in the business community combine to get things done for Hyannis.
“Action and friendship are Mark Sexton’s keys to success,” she wrote. “Our rotary, the first thing you see entering town, has been an ugly hello to a not-so-popular Hyannis. Well, Mark took it up and convinced a landscaper friend and his bank to clean it up and maintain it.”
“I love it here,” Sexton said. “Downtown Hyannis has the ferry service, a wonderful hospital, a great airport, 40 restaurants and a new hotel is being built. Everything is headed in the right direction. It needs some help, so I’m trying to do that and a lot of the businesses in the community are trying to do that. It’s a community effort to put Hyannis where it should be – a great place to live and work.”
When Sexton isn’t working or volunteering, he is typically involved with sports. He works out every morning and plays golf when he can. He still races sailboats in the summer, skis in the winter and is an avid Celtics fan.
