Connecticut Banking 3Q 2017

Third Quarter 2017

The Historic 2017 General Assembly Session

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Third Quarter 2017 • Connecticut Banking Magazine

Third Quarter 2017

The Historic 2017 General Assembly Session

COVER STORY

CONNECTICUT BANKERS ASSOCIATION

10 Waterside Dr. Farmington, CT 06032-3083 Telephone: 860-677-5060 • Fax: 860-677-5066

The Historic 2017 General Assembly Session....................... 8 FEATURES

Creating A Next Generation Banking Culture to Attract Next Generation Talent.................................................................. 4

Chairman B. Michael Rauh

Second Vice Chairman Stephen L. Lewis

Maintain Competition and Routing in Payments .................... 6

First Vice Chairman Michael J. Casparino

President & CEO Lindsey R. Pinkham

Adding a ‘Cash Plan’ to Your Business Continuity Plan – Proactivity Beckons.............................................................. 7

President & CEO Chelsea Groton Bank

President and CEO Thomaston Savings Bank

President-Northern Connecticut People’s United Bank

Bureaus Announce Changes to Credit Reporting System.... 10 Executive Vice President & Treasurer Thomas S. Mongellow First Senior Vice President & Secretary Colleen E. Clancy

Thank You To CBA's Annual Meeting Sponsors................... 11 If Your Bank Is a Strong Contributor to the Community, Do You Get Recognition for It?................................................. 12 Creating Millennium-Friendly Financial Advising ................... 14

Connecticut Banking is an official publication of the Connecticut Bankers Association and is published quarterly by

The Warren Group

Design / Production / Advertising www.thewarrengroup.com custompubs@thewarrengroup.com With the exception of official association announcements, the Connecticut Bankers Association and The Warren Group disclaim responsibility for opinions expressed in Connecticut Banking. This publication is intended and designed to provide accurate and authoritative information, not to provide legal, accounting or other professional advice.

CONNECTICUT BANKING Editor

Karen Horanzy

©2017 The Warren Group Inc. All rights reserved. The Warren Group is

a trademark of The Warren Group Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Advertising, editorial and production inquiries should be directed to: The Warren Group, 280 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210. Call 800-356-8805.

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CBA Calendar................................................................ 7 Bankers in the News .................................................... 18 Banks in the News........................................................ 20

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Connecticut Banking Magazine • Third Quarter 2017

Creating A Next Generation Banking Culture to Attract Next Generation Talent Kristine Oliver, Managing Director, Pearl Meyer

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Invest in career development. Millennials want to take control and actively lead their career development. Banks can provide a multitude of opportunities to strengthen skills and allow Millennials to develop as leaders. Millennials are looking for a coach, rather than a “boss,” which they define as someone who is invested in their success. Establishing mentorships and leadership programs provide on-the-job training and reinforce the company’s commitment to individual growth.

Increase Transparency. Transparency is vital to establishing trust and loyalty with this generation and it’s a key to longer job tenure. An employer can provide transparency by ensuring Millennials understand how their role contributes to the bank’s success and how success is rewarded. It is important to collaborate to establish short- and long-term goals and detail the path to reach these goals, including training and opportunities for development. Millennials thrive on feedback and consistent dialog. Providing an avenue for two-way communication will help ensure success in this area and keep everyone engaged.

Align total rewards and performance management programs. As with most employees, effective compensation plans and performance management programs can help attract, retain and motivate Millennials. Providing a competitive base salary may not be at the top of their priority list, but certainly being rewarded for performance is important. In conjunction with regular feedback, recognition awards and incentive awards should also be a part of the compensation framework.

Instead of annual performance reviews, it may be more prudent to provide frequent check-ins and real-time feedback. In addition, Millennials welcome the opportunity to receive input on performance from peers and others in the organization.

The bottom line is that banks must create an engaging workplace culture where Millennials feel welcomed, valued, and rewarded. Many banks have taken the lead on creating advisory boards consisting of Millennials (both employees and people from the community) in order to ensure that they’re doing the right things to attract and retain this generation as customers and as employees. Any bank that can be successful in achieving this will have created a competitive advantage in the marketplace. u

any directors believe it’s important for their institutions to address the shortage of younger financial services talent, yet there’s often a lack of urgency around working on this “future problem.”

Consider this: it’s expected that approximately 40 percent of the community banking workforce will consist of Millennials within the next five years. In order to stay relevant, community banks not only need to ensure they are attracting and retaining Millennials as customers, but also as employees. It’s no secret that for Millennials, banking isn’t exactly considered the “sexiest” industry for employment opportunities. The good news is that as a service industry, banking has ample opportunity to exercise some creativity in its culture. There are five key Kristine Oliver areas to address now that will help attract and retain Millennials to the community banking world.

Embrace cognitive diversity in the workplace. The bottom line is that Millennials embrace diversity; not only in the traditional sense, but they also seek cognitive diversity within the workplace. This means that they want to be included and accepted for their thoughts and opinions. This group seeks a collaborative environment where they can impact work, bring value to the organization, and be recognized – through compensation and other means – for their efforts and ideas. Consider ways to bring employees into the decision-making fold at all levels. This approach actually has a secondary benefit: by allowing the broad workforce to feel empowered to create and implement ideas, banks can also begin to address the need for innovation and the need to develop competitive differentiation in order to remain successful.

Focus on social responsibility. It’s well-known that Millennials focus on a company’s social responsibility when evaluating them as an employer. It is also known that ethics and integrity are important criteria, and that Millennials are skeptical of the financial services industry in the wake of the mortgage crisis and the Wells Fargo scandal. Community banks in particular have ample opportunity to take meaningful action in the communities they serve and allow Millennials to participate in socially beneficial causes they believe in.

Allowing for input and ideas in determining what the organization will focus on and offering non-cash benefits like time off to volunteer can make this generation feel good about the work they’re doing and may help change the perception of the banking as a career choice.

Kristine Oliver, a managing director in the Boston office, has nearly 20 years experience in all aspects of executive, board and employee compensation, with a particular emphasis in banking.

She has consulted to the community banking industry for nearly 15 years and leads the Northeast region for Pearl Meyer’s banking practice.

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Connecticut Banking Magazine • Third Quarter 2017

Maintain Competition and Routing in Payments

By Paul Waltz, President and CEO, SHAZAM

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he debate over regulating the payments industry has become more important than ever, with vigorous activity around regulatory rollback and repeal. Preventing price fixing and regulatory overreach in the banking profession are important considerations, but preserving the interest of community banks and credit unions should be at the heart of the debate.

In recent weeks, rhetoric supporting the idea that efforts to repeal Dodd-Frank should include a complete repeal of The Durbin Amendment has dominated the news. Much of the chatPaul Waltz ter is focused on pricing controls imposed under Durbin, with no consideration or little understanding of the second unaffiliated network requirement provision and prohibition on routing restrictions, which protects competition in the debit payments market.

What bankers know, and some of the op-ed authors have forgotten, is the best way to keep your costs in check is to make sure there is healthy competition between providers. The two unaffiliated network requirement and prohibition on routing restrictions do exactly that. They preserve the right to choice and flexibility for both bankers and merchants, and diminish influence that entities with significant market power would leverage to create longer-term damage in the market.

It is simply not true to suggest routing choice is only a benefit to merchants. The contention that merchants hold the only choice in routing a transaction falls apart when one simply turns over their debit card to see, plainly, it’s the bank or credit union that chooses its network partners.

So, what happens if that choice for the banks and credit unions is taken away? Without routing choice, smaller institutions in particular have no protection against punitive fees or costly brand

mandates, and they will see costs go up sharply. That erodes interchange profit and creates a payments ecosystem where innovation is stifled.

The introduction of chip cards and tokenization like Apple Pay or Samsung Pay have, virtually overnight, inserted proprietary technology into what was an open, standards-based payments system. After the initial rollout of chip clearly showed undue influence of routing; the Federal Reserve had to step in and clarify rules to ensure compliance with the law.

What may be most puzzling is the effort by some to dismiss the safest transaction in the entire system, the PIN-based debit transaction. Globally, the largest networks extoll the security benefits of PIN, and advocate its use. One has to ask, then, “Why would anyone argue that PIN is harmful to community financial institutions and to consumers here in the U.S.?”

As a network and processor owned by community banks and credit unions, SHAZAM isn’t supportive of government price controls, even though most of our participants aren’t affected by Durbin’s interchange caps. However, we feel it’s critical community banks and credit unions 6

maintain the benefit that comes from the requirements there be at least two unaffiliated routing choices for debit transactions along with the prohibition on routing restrictions.

The competition in the U.S. for debit processing services has allowed for innovation over the last 40 years. In addition, it serves as one of the last lines of defense for community financial institutions to have choice and flexibility, and enables their participation in electronic payments.

If the protection provided by Durbin is lost, the bank or credit union in your hometown may be significantly harmed.

The dual-routing requirement and prohibition on routing restrictions in the Durbin Amendment protect the entire ecosystem from falling victim to those whose only motivation is their own bottom line. u Paul Waltz is president and CEO of SHAZAM. He joined the company in 1999.

Prior to joining SHAZAM, Waltz was COO at First American Bank. He currently serves on the board of directors for Rebuilding Together Greater Des Moines, a nonprofit volunteer group that remodels homes for lowincome families.

Third Quarter 2017 • Connecticut Banking Magazine

Adding a ‘Cash Plan’ to Your Business Continuity Plan – Proactivity Beckons

By David B. Sidon, CPA, Navis Partners LLC

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ver since Y2K, the concepts of disaster recovery planning, business continuity planning and now cybersecurity response readiness have become constant points of focus for all of us in our institutions. As our firm has conducted table-top tests year after year, we point our clients to the action verbs in those three concepts: recover, continue, respond. Those tabletop tests all seemingly come down to the basic elements of communication and decision making, regardless of the specifics of the disaster.

Taking inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King, we have fashioned hurricanes, tornados, pandemics and chemical spills requiring immediate evacuation. We have burned down buildings and shut off electricity and communications everywhere east of the Mississippi. We have played out terrorist activities that severely impact the flow of commerce. We haven’t yet rolled out our Zombie Apocalypse or the invasion of New England by Quebec, but stay tuned.

Interestingly, an additional “basic” element has been emerging. It seems that many different scenarios result in fear and uncertainty that create a short-term cash economy. We’ve all considered this haven’t

Upcoming

we? And we have almost always recalled the George Bailey moment in “It’s a Wonderful Life” as he doles out a limited amount of cash to an angry and nervous community of customers.

Allow me to pose this as a list of questions.

In a cash rationing scenario: • How much cash do we have on hand? (branches and ATMs combined) • How would we move that around if normal security is unavailable? (if armored delivery is not available) • What’s the “number,” i.e. how much would you allow each customer per day, and for how long?

• What about the safety of your staff as they execute this unpopular strategy?

• If we don’t have access to balances, now what?

• Do we understand the stand-in limits on our ATMs? • What if the ATMs can’t communicate with their underlying provider?

• Can we shut off foreign transactions. i.e. non-customers? Would we want to?

Would be allowed to?

• Can we get more cash from the Fed and/or other suppliers?

JANUARY 2018

CBA Annual Golf Tournament

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SEPTEMBER 2017 6-8 7 10-12 13 20

New Leaders Awards Dinner BankWorld 2018

APRIL 2018

Cybersecurity Legislative Seminar CSFM Resident Session Directors and Trustees College ALM Seminar

8-10 CSFM BankSIM 11 CSFM 2018 Graduation 27 Women in Banking

MAY 2018

OCTOBER 2017 18 20

David B. Sidon, CPA, works at Navis Partners LLC.

CBA Calendar

AUGUST 2017 28

• What are their plans?

One of the frustrations of business continuity planning is the vagary and seeming “black-hole,” “rabbit-hole” as you ponder various scenarios. But, BCP is about minimizing surprises and limiting the decision tree encountered under adverse circumstances, so here’s something very tangible that may be planned well in advance under calm conditions.

We do know how much cash we have on hand, and we certainly know how many deposit customers we have and where they are located. It seems like an Excel moment to me. What-if analysis could easily use a daily allowable disbursement number as a variable and then calculate how long your institution could continue along that path. So why not do that in a quiet moment and add an appendix to your plan? This is no small suggestion. As we do these table-top tests and the subject arises, we spend a significant amount of time and resources speculating with no data in front of us. In a crisis mode, every moment may be precious, so proactivity beckons. u

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Bank Security Seminar FDIC Update 7

Director & Senior Officer Symposium

Connecticut Banking Magazine • Third Quarter 2017

The Historic 2017 General Assembly Session

By Thomas S. Mongellow

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s with any odd numbered year, the 2017 General Assembly Session was the five-month long session which concluded at mid-night on Wednesday, June 7. The Session was labeled by many as “historic” primarily because you have to look back to 1893 to find another Connecticut Senate that was tied with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans.

Since there was no rule book from that year on how to guide the Senate through this unique situation, both parties had to develop a new approach based on “power sharing.” That 18 to 18 tie also led to administrative considerations such as office changes, personnel downsizing for the Democrats, and staff increases for the Republicans. Ultimately leadership positions were decided upon, committees were announced, and the work of the legislature began in earnest in mid-January.

Meanwhile, down in the House of Representatives, a “realignment” occurred with a number of Republican gains that led to a slim seven vote majority for the Democrats. This means that out of the 151 state representatives only four Democrats are needed

to join the Republicans on any issue, whether it be rules or legislation, to control the vote on that particular issue. With this very thin House Majority and the Senate being tied, many major initiatives did not get voted on because of a shortage of votes needed to pass them. Some of the significant bills which did not pass included: crumbling foundations relief, paid family leave, highway tolls, recreational marijuana and pay equity. A couple of major proposals that did pass include enabling a third satellite casino in East Windsor run by the Mohegan and Pequot Tribes and a “constitutional lock box” for funding statewide transportation improvements.

Another major item that did not pass was the biennial state budget which necessitated the calling of a “Special” Session to address it. That special session is actively underway as of this writing. The projected budget deficit for fiscal year 2018 and 2019 is close to $5 billion, which accounts for over 17 percent of the total existing state budget based on the fiscal year ending this June 30.

This deficit can, in large part, be attributed to soaring state costs 8

Third Quarter 2017 • Connecticut Banking Magazine

for underfunded pension benefits, anemic job growth, population decline, and a corresponding decline in income tax receipts.

Based on these projections, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Democrats and Republicans have all proposed versions of a balanced state budget. None of those budgets could be agreed to by leadership and the governor.

This has led to many leadership meetings at the Capitol since the end of the regular session, it is unclear as to when or what type of state budget will be adopted.

A key factor in adopting any of the proposed budgets is the reliance of $1.5 billion dollars of state employee union concessions over the next two years.

While that number has been agreed to by collective union leadership, it still has to be ratified by the rank and file union members. Even though that vote is rumored to take place in mid-July, the General Assembly could still build a budget beforehand, which anticipates that $1.5 billion in savings. However, if union members voted down those concessions after, the legislature will have to return for another special session to plug the funding gap.

It would be ideal to have an agreed upon budget by June 30, but should that not happen the Governor has released options of a contingency plan or a “mini” budget, to keep the state running. The state’s constitution allows the governor executive powers to run the contingency plan, and that would continue until a budget is adopted by the legislature and signed by him. The mini budget would require its approval by both chambers of the legislature, which brings the power sharing and slim majority back into play.

Conversely, the legislature does have the ability to adopt a “continuing resolution,” assuming the governor signs it, which would keep the state operating for a specified period of time until a permanent budget could be adopted.

While all this was happening, various proposals of interest to the banking industry were being negotiated, supported, or opposed by the CBA. Here’s a brief overview of some of the proposals addressed during the 2017 session: House Bill 7015, Debit Card Fraud Criminal Penalties is a CBA sponsored proposal which passed both chambers and was signed by the governor June 6

and becomes Public Act 17 – 26. The Act will create a clear path for law enforcement to prosecute perpetrators of any fraud involving debit cards. Surprisingly, the state’s criminal statutes only had credit card fraud penalties. The new Act eliminates that omission and will go into effect on October 1st of this year.

House Bill 6520, Raising the Asset Limitation for Community Banks and Credit Unions (for the state treasurer’s community bank CD program), passed. The program allows eligible banks to bid for deposits from the state treasurer’s pool of available monies, designated specifically for that program. The bill increases the asset size limit for banks and credit unions to participate in the program, from $500 million to one billion dollars. The Governor signed the bill, now Public Act 17-8, on May 31 and it is effective immediately.

Senate Bill 806, Crumbling Foundation Assistance Program, which did not pass, was the result of meetings held by the Capitol’s legislative leadership, the governor, lt. governor’s office, a variety of committee chairs and rank and file members. This complicated issue is centered in a number of communities in the northeast region of the state that were serviced by a cement company that poured over 30,000 foundations since 1983. The industry’s goal was and continues to be, the communication of issues, concerns and potential solutions that CBA membership felt could be accomplished throughout that region.

This omnibus bill was voted out by the Public Safety Committee and several of the banking industry’s concepts were included. However there were concerns on how to fund the range of solutions contained in the bill and the $12 annual surcharge on all home hazard insurance policies in the state. Those concerns resulted in the Finance Committee taking no action on the bill when it was referred to them. It is rumored that some version of the proposal may be brought up during the special session due to its budget implications on the bonding side of the state’s balance sheet. Stay tuned on this very important and difficult issue.

Senate Bill 973, the Residential Sustainable Energy Program (Residential PACE) proposal is a case study on how industry grass roots can really work. The bill would have created an energy im9

provement loan program with a negative super-priority lien position in front of an existing first priority residential mortgage.

It was clear after the bill’s public hearing that there was a great deal of support for this proposal from various Energy Committee members. With the help of many of the CBA’s members who made phone calls, sent emails and had personal meetings with legislators on this contentious issue, the industry was successful in stopping this proposal. The bill should be retired for the season as only budget related matters are brought up during the special session. However it’s always a possibility that the “budget implementer” bill, which gets passed after the state budget is adopted, might be used as a place to include the RPACE concept.

House Bill 7162, Victims of Bank and Credit Union Financial Fraud was an extremely negative anti-bank concept as the title may indicate. The bill would have ultimately empowered plaintiffs’ lawyers to potentially bring large numbers of frivolous lawsuits against only banks and credit unions. While the bill was voted out of the Banking Committee by an 11 to 8 margin, ultimately it was not brought up for a vote in the House, and it did not pass.

With over 3,000 bills brought up for consideration last session, the Capitol had one of the busiest years in recent memory.

Committees were in overdrive holding public hearings, special meetings in combination with other committees, and voting bills out. Add to that the power-sharing in the Senate, the slim House Majority and the ever-present budget crisis, and the 2017 General Assembly really was historic in nature. We hope future legislative actions bring the needed structural changes to the state budget that put Connecticut on the path to sustainability through job growth and economic development. u Thomas S. Mongellow is the executive vice president and treasurer of the Connecticut Bankers Association in Farmington and is the director of State Government Relations. He has been with the CBA for over 31 years and his responsibilities include the management of the CBA’s State Government Relations Program, which includes legislative and agency lobbying, communications and grass roots organizing of the membership.

Connecticut Banking Magazine • Third Quarter 2017

Bureaus Announce Changes to Credit Reporting System

By Chance Williams, CRCM, Compliance Specialist

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xperian, Equifax and Transunion announced a recent change in how they report credit for consumers. The changes affect the credit reporting of most, if not all, civil judgements and tax liens. The bureaus raised the standard for Personal Identifying Information (PII) required when reporting civil judgements and tax liens against consumers. The bureaus expect the changes to affect 8-10 percent of all credit reports and could result in inflated scores for these borrowers. Approximately 64 percent of consumers with tax liens have just one tax lien and 69 percent of consumers with civil judgements have just one judgement against them; however there are situations that could arise where a consumer has multiple liens and /or judgements that will no longer be reported.

The National Consumer Assistance Plan encompasses a series of initiatives designed to strengthen the quality of credit reports. The plan is to make consumer reports more transparent, easier for a consumer to understand and ensure accuracy and timeliness of data maintained in the reports.

The other side of the coin is the impact on the financial industry in relation to making safe and sound credit decisions when using the revised reports. The revised reports now require the financial industry to take a more proactive approach when it comes to evaluating a consumer’s credit worthiness. Banks and other institutions have relied on consumer credit reports for years when making a determination about the likelihood of a consumer repaying a credit obligation. The days of being able to rely on consumer credit reports to tell the whole story have come to an end. Banks and other institutions will now need to have a more robust underwriting system in place to address a consumer’s predictive behavior.

While the reporting change will affect a small portion of the reports being pulled and reviewed, it will have the greatest impact for those who have marginal credit scores. FICO believes that out of 200 million Americans that currently have a credit scores, about 12 million consumers will see their scores increase. The increase is thought to potentially raise the credit score for those individuals by approximately 20 points. This equates to about 6.5 percent of the population who currently have a score that will be positively affected by the change in reporting. This impacts the banks and financial institutions that have borrowers that would be on the cusp of the credit score requirements and could now appear to have a stronger credit standing. Banks and other institutions will need to determine if the risk of business as usual is more than they are willing to bear and if there is a need to amplify their underwriting processes to ensure they have the whole story when it comes to borrowers, their financial obligations and financial stability.

A system of more robust interviewing, reference checking and addition of predictive measures will help to reduce the risk banks and other institutions face when the new reporting begins.

One additional consideration for banks to make is whether the change in the reporting will result in employees – who would not

have been hirable based on credit – may now have adequate scores to procure employment. Many times banks will use credit scores as a determining factor for making or denying applicants for employment.

There is an increased possibility that a person who was once considered un-hirable may now meet the credit standards put forth by the bank and be eligible for hire.

As the industry and consumer needs evolve the bureaus will continue to seek ways to ensure the data they maintain on consumer files is accurate and timely. Changes that are currently being made by the bureaus are not seen as pulling a splinter out of your hand but rather as fixing a broken arm. Judgements and liens are in the major derogatory events category of the credit formula and thus thought to make it much tougher for banks to rely on simply the credit score. This will inevitably put the responsibility on the financial industry to continue to assess the practices utilized when make safe and sound credit decisions. A continual review and assessment of your policies, procedures, and underwriting guidelines will ensure that the banks and other institutions have addressed changes to industry landscape. u

Chance Williams, CRCM, compliance specialist at Compliance Alliance, has 10 years of experience as a compliance officer/auditor and four years as a senior compliance/audit consultant. Williams holds the ICB CRCM certification, as well as ICBA certifications in BSA (CBAP), compliance (CCBCO) and IT (CCBTO). He has worked in the banking industry for 20 years in all departments of the bank, and has experience in bank operations and compliance.

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Third Quarter 2017 • Connecticut Banking Magazine

THANK YOU TO CBA’S ANNUAL MEETING SPONSORS

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Connecticut Banking Magazine • Third Quarter 2017

If Your Bank Is a Strong Contributor to the Community, Do You Get Recognition for It?

By Bruce Paul

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any community banks and credit unions pride themselves on the contributions they make to their communities. This includes supporting local charities, funding scholarships, planting trees or otherwise helping their neighbors. While these great acts can certainly be their own reward, community banks also deserve public recognition for their great works.

Other than the obvious benefits to the community, the contributions a bank makes to its community have two strong benefits for the bank itself.

The first is the influence on prospects, or non-customers. Many prospects learn about potential banks from advertising or from community involvement. Our studies show that advertisement is generally more effective at raising awareness among prospective customers than community works alone. Indeed, this is why many banks set aside large budgets for traditional marketing campaigns. However,

our studies of bank customer behavior show that while ads are better at driving awareness, community contribution can be more effective at driving consideration.

The latest results of the CT Bank Prospect Benchmark show that Community Contribution increases prospects’ consideration of your bank by an average of 136 percent. Not a bad side-effect! And for smaller banks with lower awareness, the increase is even higher.

Anyone wishing to receive the CT Bank Prospect Benchmark results can contact Customer Experience Solutions for the specific community contribution results as rated by each bank’s own prospects. All of the data cited in this article is based on that study.

Community contribution increases consideration by prospective customers by 136 percent.

The second impact that community contribution has on a bank’s business in on its current customers. When current 12

customers see their bank’s involvement in the community, it can improve the esteem they already have for their bank. Our research has shown that the positive impact can increase their loyalty to the bank, meaning they are less likely to leave and more likely to increase long-term spending with their bank. The latest CT Bank Customer Benchmark report showed that recognition of community contribution increases customers’ share of wallet significantly with their bank and their longterm loyalty goes up by 91 percent.

Community contribution increases current customer loyalty by 91 percent.

While it is probably not a big surprise to some that contribution to the community has an impact on the top and bottom lines, many banks are not actually getting the benefit they should be. Many community banks and credit unions spend a lot of money and effort contributing to the community, but their current and potential customers simply don’t know

Third Quarter 2017 • Connecticut Banking Magazine

about it. This is very frustrating to marketing and community giving leaders in some banks, and a wasted opportunity for many. It is very important to know just how much recognition you are getting for your good work, and how you can improve that ROI. The challenge for banks is breaking through the clutter to ensure your customers and prospects appreciate your contribution.

In our research, we saw that in one specific market, two community banks had equivalent amounts of community involvement in terms of gifts to charity, hours volunteered by their staff, sponsorships, etc. However, one of the two banks was rated 275 percent higher in terms of community contribution by their respective customers and 388 percent higher by non-customers. While each bank did similar levels of community outreach effort, one was using much more efficient channels and coopting local nonprofit partners to get the word out. Not coincidentally, the bank with the better outreach is currently achieving stronger growth in new customers, especially commercial customers.

The first step to getting the maximum credit (and business impact) from your community contribution, is to understand how you currently stand with customers and prospects, in your specific market and in relation to your competition. Do your current customers see and appreciate your good work? Do your prospects? The second step would be to make reasoned adjustments and tweaks to the programs to see what the impact is. A bank may need to improve its community outreach to gain greater recognition, or it may need to emphasize different types of community involvement to broaden its exposure. Spring and summer are times of increased giving and involvement in community affairs so recognition can go up. But it can also be harder to differentiate since other institutions are increasing their involvement as well.

The third step is to measure how much the changes have moved the needle in terms of recognition of community contribution. And just as importantly is to track the impact that they recogni-

tion is having on awareness of the bank and consideration to use the bank in the future. Tracking your ratings over time will show you exactly how your community contribution, and all other marketing efforts, are truly impacting how your prospects and customers view you. This will allow you to fine tune your programs so you get the maximum benefit for the bank while doing the maximum good for the community.

So as the weather grows warmer, consider your community involvement activities – what are you currently doing?

Are you sure you are getting the credit you deserve? What can you do differently? And most importantly, what you can you do to make sure your current and prospective customers see what you’re doing? u The CT Bank Benchmarks are based upon over 400,000 unbiased consumer and business reviews of banks and credit unions across New England, and are published twice per year. Information and specific bank results can be accessed at www.cescx.com

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Connecticut Banking Magazine • Third Quarter 2017

Gail Brathwaite

James Rusiecki

Rachel Bolles, Christine Hutchings and Hilary Mondelci

Ivan Shiffman

Elena Hermonot

Jennifer Eastbourne

Kate Alves

Max Spelman

Sarah Dion

Lisa Griffin

Michael Bartolotta

John Mancini

Thomas Pizzo

Michael Yao

Duncan Lee

John Polera

Kyle Eagleson

Lyle Fulton

Adam Purcaro

Katherine Ludwig

Tiffany Hussey

Joy Sherwood

Kenneth Weinstein

Anthony Giobbi

Karissa Peters

Phil Lukianuk

Bankwell announced Gail Brathwaite was appointed to the board of directors. James Rusiecki was named senior vice president and director of treasury management.

Berkshire Bank – CBT Region announced Mark Pedrotti was promoted to vice president and marketing officer.

John Mancini was appointed executive vice president and chief credit officer.

Jewett City Savings Bank announced Elena Hermonot joined as a corporator.

Essex Savings Bank announced Rachel Bolles, Christine Hutchings and Hilary Mondelci were recognized at the Center for Financial Training’s 70th annual graduation.

Liberty Bank announced Katherine Ludwig was promoted to branch manager.

Chelsea Groton Bank announced Jennifer Eastbourne was promoted to assistant vice president and financial services program coordinator. Kate Alves was promoted to vice president and credit department manager. Max Spelman was promoted to assistant vice president and deposit operations manager. Sarah Dion was promoted to assistant vice president and senior auditor.

Farmington Bank announced Thomas Pizzo was appointed vice president and commercial loan officer.

Dime Bank announced William Labrecque was hired as a trust officer. Lauren Sposato was hired as community relations and social media coordinator.

Guilford Savings Bank announced Kyle Eagleson was named first executive vice president and CFO. Lyle Fulton was promoted to executive vice president and chief lending officer.

Eastern Bank announced Lisa Griffin was promoted to president and CEO. Michael Bartolotta was appointed senior vice president and information systems manager.

First County Bank announced Michael Yao joined as vice president and senior commercial banking officer. Duncan Lee joined as branch manager of the retail banking division. John Polera was named to the board of directors.

Ion Bank announced Adam Purcaro joined as an account manager. Ivan Shiffman joined as vice president of business banking.

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Litchfield Bancorp announced Tiffany Hussey and Joy Sherwood were promoted to assistant branch managers.

Newtown Savings Bank announced Kenneth Weinstein will become president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2018; Anthony Giobbi will be the new chief banking officer; and John Trentacosta will be the chairman of the board of directors. Karissa Peters was promoted to assistant treasurer and branch manager. Phil Lukianuk joined as assistant vice president and branch manager. Andrea Fodor joined as assistant treasurer and branch manager. Joe Bartolomeo, Vic Falco and Tom Lutz each received Five Star Mortgage Professionals recognition.

Northwest Community Bank announced Ronald Rosenstein was elected chairman of the board. Douglas O’Connell was elected to the board of directors.

Third Quarter 2017 • Connecticut Banking Magazine

Andrea Fodor

Susan Lebel

Joe Bartolomeo, Vic Falco and Tom Lutz

Kasey Beckendorf

Jill Maguire

Ronald Rosenstein

Douglas O’Connell

John Trott

John Beir

Jarret Coleman

Chris Nardone

Jordan Andersen

Carolyn Hatzi

Joe Brigandi and Jack Plants

Martin Geitz

Michael Granfield

SEND BANKSintheNEWS & BANKERSintheNEWS Submissions to cba@ctbank.com Salisbury Bank & Trust Co. announced John Trott joined as senior vice president and team leader of commercial lending.

Jordan Andersen joined as assistant vice president and branch manager.

Savings Bank of Danbury announced Carolyn Hatzi recevied the American Heart Association Lifestyle Change Award.

Simsbury Bank announced Martin Geitz was inducted into the Junior Achievement’s Business Hall of Fame. Susan Lebel placed first in class in the Center for Financial Training’s Central Connecticut region 96th Annual Graduation Awards Ceremony.

Torrington Savings Bank announced Melissa Manolitsis was promoted to assistant vice president of residential lending.

Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce. Paula Woodhouse joined as vice president head of business banking.

Union Savings Bank announced Kasey Beckendorf was promoted to assistant vice president compliance manager. Jill Maguire was selected to serve on the Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce. Kathy Martin was promoted to director of payment services.

United Bank announced Jarret Coleman and Chris Nardone were named top performers in mortgage banking and investment services. Joe Brigandi and Jack Plants were awarded a “First in Class” certificate by the Center for Financial Training.

Jeff Levine was appointed as chairman of the board of trustees while Anthony Mercaldo, Ann Fowler-Cruz and Jack Zazzaro were inducted as new corporators.

John Beir was selected to serve on the

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19

Windsor Federal Savings announced Michael Granfield joined as vice president of commercial lending and business development officer.

Connecticut Banking Magazine • Third Quarter 2017

Essex Savings Bank held its 21st Annual Top Ten Reception while they have donated over $1.25 million supporting over 200 nonprofit organizations since 1996.

Essex Savings Bank sponsored a free Small Business Workshop.

Bank of America employees teamed up with ESPN to cheer for Connecticut athletes heading to the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria.

Bankwell sponsored Carver Center and LiveGirl and donated $2,500.

Essex Savings Bank held its 3rd Annual Shred Event and Food Drive collecting 25 bags of food for the Chester Food Pantry.

Essex Savings Bank received recognition from Middlesex United Way.

Bankwell donated $5,000 to Norwalk Mayor Rilling’s Student Engineering and Science Program at the Maritime Aquarium.

Bank of America executives volunteered to host students from Weaver High School and Wethersfield High School for Junior Achievement’s Day.

Berkshire Bank, in partnership with NESN, awarded $13,000 to Cradles to Crayons, $10,000 to Soldier On and $12,100 to Birthday Wishes.

Berkshire Bank celebrated Earth Day by achieving a sustainability milestone of a 15 percent drop in paper usage.

Berkshire Bank Foundation invested over $300,000 to 88 nonprofit organizations in education, economic development and basic needs initiatives.

Bankwell donated $5,000 to the Darien Athletic Foundation in support of the Darien Lights Brigade.

Farmington Bank donated to area nonprofit organizations in honor of National Financial Literacy Month.

Berkshire Bank celebrated National Small Business Week by awarding $22,000 in grants to small businesses.

Farmington Bank sponsored the sixth annual Community Concert Series with 20 free performances by Simply Swing.

Farmington Bank provided “Fresh Start” checking account for banking solutions to unbanked and underbanked consumers.

Berkshire Bank closed all its locations at noon for its company-wide Xtraordinary Day, The Power of Giving Back.

Chelsea Groton Bank received the highest rating from the FDIC for its performance under the Community Reinvestment Act.

Farmington Bank provided a $4,000 grant to Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation.

Bankwell held a Pet Adoption awareness event as part of the ongoing Bankwell Pet Adoption Project.

Essex Savings Bank supported the development of the Old Lyme Chadwick Homeowners Association’s pump house.

Bankwell donated $2,500 to New Covenant Center.

Essex Savings Bank participated in the Old Saybrook Fire Department’s 6th Annual Food Drive to benefit the Shoreline Soup Kitchen and Pantries.

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Farmington Bank delivered 50,000 children’s diapers and over 500 adult diapers to organizations with families in need.

First Bank of Greenwich held a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in Stamford.

Third Quarter 2017 • Connecticut Banking Magazine

First County Bank was honored as 2017 Healthy Workplace employer by The Business Council of Fairfield County.

First County Bank presented “Your Professional Journey: Get Recognized, Called Upon and Rewarded” at a Women in Business event.

First County Bank announced the winner of the FirstPrize $avings account.

Jewett City Savings Bank Foundation pledged $25,000 to United Community and Family Services for a new health care facility.

First County Bank employees volunteered at the Westport Maker’s Faire.

Litchfield Bancorp announced Connecticut Mutual Holding Co. held its 7th Annual Business Breakfast where a United Way agency was chosen to receive a donation within the holding company.

First County Bank employees volunteered at the second annual Weston-Westport Chamber of Commerce Dog Show.

First County Bank employees volunteered at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center Maple Sugar Festival.

First County Bank teamed up with the Fairfield County Bar Association’s Women in Law Committee hosting an evening of education and networking.

Guilford Savings Bank was a $10,000 corporate sponsor of The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center.

Newtown Savings Bank’s Relay for Life team raised over $5,000 for the American Cancer Society.

First County Bank sponsored a Teen Chef Challenge.

Guilford Savings Bank pledged $275,000 to over 200 nonprofit organizations.

Northwest Community Bank contributed $1,500 per year per student for three years to the Team Success Scholar Program.

First County Bank and local executives participated in a panel discussion on philanthropic strategies within the community.

First County Bank employees volunteered at the Miller Driscoll PTA Carnival.

Ion Bank Foundation announced the winners of its Community Awards Program and granted $62,100 to 134 nonprofits.

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Connecticut Banking Magazine • Third Quarter 2017

Simsbury Bank was a $1,000 “Swarm” sponsor of the Grandby Education Foundation’s 14th annual Gran-Bee event.

People’s United Bank teamed up with AARP for a Fraud Prevention Campaign.

Savings Bank of Danbury was recognized by CityCenter Danbury for renovations to their office.

Simsbury Bank donated $50,000 and joined a three-year partnership to support the University of Connecticut’s School of Business Family Business Program.

People’s United Community Foundation awarded over $300,000 in grants to Connecticut nonprofits.

Salisbury Bank offered warnings to older citizens regarding Grandparent Scam in recognition of Older American’s Month.

Salisbury Bank announced its free 2017 Community Shred Days will be held during the months of May through October.

Simsbury Bank sponsored the Celebrate! West Hartford 5K Road Race with a $1,500 contribution.

Simsbury Bank was a Gold Sponsor of the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Economic Development Luncheon.

Salisbury Bank offered a free seminar on the basics of Medicare.

Salisbury Bank provided $2,500 scholarships to eligible students for its 2017 Annual Time to Shine Scholarship Program.

Simsbury Bank was a $2,500 platinum sponsor of “Try Simsbury” adventure triathlon.

Simsbury Bank was the major sponsor of the Simsbury Historical Society’s Historic House Tour of Weatogue Homes.

Simsbury Bank offered a free Shred Day event.

Savings Bank of Danbury employees participated in the March of Dimes/WalkAmerica at Quassy Park.

Simsbury Bank was the presenting sponsor of 2017 Downtown YMCA Mission in Motion cycle-a-thon.

Simsbury Bank sponsored the Simsbury Police Cadet Program with a $2,000 contribution.

Savings Bank of Danbury employees assisted the United Way of Western Connecticut and Connecticut Food Bank with their Mobile Food Pantry.

Savings Bank of Danbury sponsored a new flagpole for the city of Danbury.

Simsbury Bank announced its sponsorship of the Hill-Stead Museum’s May Market.

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Simsbury Bank adopted Tariffville Elementary School for JA in a Day.

Third Quarter 2017 • Connecticut Banking Magazine

Simsbury Bank sponsored the 18th Annual Mayor’s Charity Ball Torrington Savings Bank donated $1,000 toward the New Hartford Business Council scholarship fund.

Union Savings Bank volunteers participated at the annual Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce’s Financial Reality Fair.

United Bank helped celebrate the opening of the UConn downtown Hartford Campus.

United Bank employees supported a Habitat for Humanity home build in Greater New Haven.

Union Savings Bank celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority Billboard Contest.

United Bank Foundation presented the Bristol Boys and Girls Club a $1,000 donation.

The United Bank Foundation donated $2,500 to Arts Center East for an exhibit.

Windsor Federal Savings presented the Teach the Children to Save program at local daycares and schools.

Union Savings Bank unveiled their renovated state of the art Bethel Branch.

United Bank employees participated in the 2017 Day of Caring.

Union Savings Bank sponsored the Ridgefield Playhouse Arts in Education program and awarded winners of the Immigration Story Essay Contest.

United Bank supported the Rotary Gala for the Rotary Music Garden.

Union Savings Bank participated in the Annual Sen. Michael McLachlan Women’s History Month essay awards presentation.

Union Savings Bank employees supported National Denim Day to bring awareness to sexual violence.

United Bank presented a $10,000 check to the Connecticut Science Center.

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Windsor Federal Savings sponsored the Windsor/ Windsor Locks’ Rotary club’s first annual wine, beer and spirits tasting fundraiser.

Windsor Federal Savings sponsored and volunteered at the 2017 Special Olympics Connecticut Northern Time Trials at Loomis Chafee.

Windsor Federal Savings held a Community Shred Day and shredded over 36,000 pounds of paper.

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