FA L C O N Celebrates
INTERNATIONAL BANK TH Anniversary
25
ADOLFO E. GUTIERREZ CEO & Chairman of the Board
Milestone
HUGO GUTIERREZ SR. Founder of Falcon Bank
Bank’s leaders reflect on
a quarter century of growth
Near the intersection of Del Mar Boulevard and McPherson Road, Falcon International Bank’s three-story, 40,000 square foot headquarters reminds many Laredoans of the future a strong foundation can support. “every day as the bank was being built, one of our customers— Dr. George García—drove past on his way to work and thought of my father,” said Adolfo Gutierrez, CEO and chairman of the board. “My father, Hugo Gutierrez Sr., was a huge part of Falcon, and before the bank was finished, Dr. García commissioned a portrait of him and gifted it to our family. The family felt that the best place for it was in the building.” For Gutierrez, the painting of his father serves as a reminder of what he hopes Falcon embodies: confidence, strength, humility, and family. Indeed, these are qualities that have guided Falcon’s steady 25-year evolution. Founded in 1986, the then-named Falcon National Bank was located on the intersection of Hillside Road and Springfield Avenue. When Gutierrez came on board as the bank’s president and CEO in 1995 (with Gutierrez Sr. as chairman of the board), Falcon had one location, approximately 20 employees, and $52 million in assets. “It was,” said Gutierrez, “a simpler time.” “It was definitely what you think of when you say ‘community bank,’” he said. “You were dealing with someone you’d known for years. You knew their family and history. So much of banking was relationship driven.” Relationships formed the core of Falcon’s growth as Gutierrez focused on attracting a staff with common values, now synthesized into three words: faith, family, and Falcon. The bank currently employs more than 300 people, several of whom—Adriana Mena, Rosie Mata, and Victor Ortiz—have been with Falcon since its inception. Another, Anita Doncaster, was Laredo’s first female teller and recently celebrated her 50th year in banking. “We say, ‘hire the personality and train the person,’” Gutierrez said. “If you staff your organization with like-minded individuals who put customers first, then they’re going to enjoy their job and be excellent at it.” As a result of a strong team, Falcon now has assets in excess of $800 million and 15 branches in south and central Texas, along with a loan production office (LPO) in Harlingen, and representative offices in Guadalajara and Monterrey, México. The bank continues to rank in the top 100 of Hispanic Business magazine’s list of the 500 largest Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S.
According to Gilbert Narvaez, Jr., who joined Falcon in 1992 as vice president and CFO and became president and chief operations officer in 2006, the key to Falcon’s longevity is investment—in its technological infrastructure, bankers, and communities. “We have committed our resources to providing customers with cuttingedge products and services,” Narvaez said. “Meanwhile, we’re blessed to have the best bankers in all of our communities, and they take pride in serving customers with passion.” Falcon also makes a point of investing into its communities by lending 80 percent of deposits back to its various customer bases. Gutierrez and Narvaez agree that the banking industry has undergone monumental shifts in the last several years, not to mention the decades preceding them. Increased regulation has led to more cautious lending, which can be difficult for longtime customers to understand. “We try to explain every step of the process in hopes that customers accept why we have to ask the questions we ask and require the information we do,” said Gutierrez. Meanwhile, technological advances have created new opportunities for Falcon to serve its customers. The bank offers online banking and bill pay and recently launched Zash Pay, an easy way to send money to others, and Mobile Money, which allows customers to bank on their phones, even without Internet capabilities. “Customers want to stay connected to their finances at all hours of the day,” Narvaez explained. “We’re happy to help them do that.” Looking toward the future, Narvaez expects to continue evolving while remaining true to the characteristics that make Falcon unique. “Our commitment to maintaining the community banking feel and experience isn’t going to change,” he said. “But we will continue to support our existing and future Falcon customers by evolving our products and services to keep up with the highly competitive banking environment.” “Falcon is not an institution,” added Gutierrez. “It’s people. That’s what drives us.”
cream oct / nov 2011
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