When Chris Hess was in high school, he convinced himself he wasn’t going to college. During his senior year he was on the verge of buying a restaurant where he was working as a cook when his girlfriend set him straight.

“We discussed how demanding having a restaurant is and she told me I had to go to college,” Hess said. 

He listened to his girlfriend, who is now his wife, and decided to give Montgomery County Community College a shot for one semester.

“As soon as I started at Montco, I loved the challenge, and all the teachers loved what they did and had a passion for it,” Hess said. 

Due to the small class sizes at MCCC, Hess was able to easily get to know the faculty and his classmates and begin building relationships with them. He was becoming a part of the “Montco family,” which most graduates refer to as one of the best aspects of attending the school. 

“A lot of that is a reflection of the teachers being happy to be there and wanting to teach you,” he said. 

Dual Admissions Program 

Hess felt MCCC served as a good transition from high school because he didn’t have to jump into a large school where he would have potentially felt overwhelmed. Instead, he was able to warm his way up to his goal of transitioning to a four-year school upon graduation in 2009 with an associate degree in Business Administration.

"I felt better prepared when the time came to make a jump,” he said, adding, “The Dual Admissions Program helped me set a goal and it was a streamlined approach to a four-year school since I didn’t have to guess if a certain school was going to accept my credits.”

After graduating from MCCC, Hess headed to Temple University, a four-year partner school of the MCCC, where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance in 2012. 

After graduating, he began working in the field of finance and is currently a business manager for a wealth management team,  The Moran Toth Group, at Merrill Lynch. 

“We manage just over a billion dollars in assets,” he said. 

As the years passed while Hess was solidifying his professional track in the financial world, he began thinking about ways he could give back to MCCC and get more involved. It was a chance meeting at a Temple University event that brought him back into the fold. 

“I was at a Temple alumni event and I went and ran into John Caperilla, the former chair of the Alumni Board of Directors at Montco,” Hess said. 

Alumni Board member

That meeting piqued his interest in becoming an MCCC Alumni Board member, so he began the process of joining the Board and became an official member in 2017.  

“I decided I could probably make more of an impact at a much smaller school than Temple,” he said.  “There is a lot more alumni engagement at Temple, but at Montco, it’s smaller and a close-knit community.”

The close-knit aspect of MCCC has had a positive impact on Hess’ personal and professional relationships.

“I have many more relationships from Montco than Temple,” he said. 

As the Alumni Board’s current vice chair, Hess discussed his responsibilities. 

“A lot of it is supporting Bill Vitiello as chair and showing up to events and trying to attract new Board members as we’re out networking,” he said. “When we’re out there, we discuss all of the events we have planned and help people learn about all that Montco has to offer.”

Alumni engagement

In addition to hosting alumni-related events, being a Board member is also about speaking with current MCCC students. 

“It’s showing them, ‘here is where we started and here is where we are today,’ to help them be engaged in working towards their goals.”

For those considering a start at MCCC, Hess shared some inspiring words. 

“I would highly encourage people to come and see the campus and meet the people on campus and give it a chance,” he said. “It can make a lot of sense for helping both financially and professionally since it’s a fraction of the cost of what a four-year school would be, and you will be able to build more meaningful relationships.”