Joel Huffer
Joel Huffer joined the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in 2021 and volunteers with our chapter.
Joel works at F&M Trust, a 116-year-old independent community bank with 21 offices across Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, and Huntingdon counties. As corporate communications officer, he develops strategies to support the bank’s internal and external communications objectives and creates and disseminates public relations materials that increase the bank’s visibility and brand awareness in the community.
A skilled writer and editor, he began his career in newspapers and spent 23 years working at four daily publications in Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. He earned numerous state press association awards, including a Chesapeake Mark Twain Award for column writing. After his newspaper career, he spent four years as director of marketing and communications for the nonprofit American Jail Association before joining F&M Trust in August 2021.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications, with an emphasis in journalism, from Shepherd College, a liberal arts institution in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. He holds a Digital Marketing Certificate from the Association Marketing Academy and the PRSA Media Relations Certificate.
He participates in a variety of community service events with F&M Trust, and he volunteers with Sleep in Heavenly Peace – a national nonprofit organization that builds, assembles and delivers bunk beds to children and families in need – in Washington County, Maryland.
Joel lives with his wife, stepson, and rescued beagle-Corgi mix in Williamsport, Maryland. He enjoys hiking, biking, and running, and has completed two JFK 50-Mile ultramarathons. He and his wife enjoy traveling, attending concerts, and playing trivia with friends at local breweries.