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Not Just Nice. Very Nice
CORPORATE Citizen OF THE YEAR
New Haven's last hometown bank breaks the mold
Community involvement stems back to New Haven Saving Bank's earliest years.
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Business New Haven
1/25/1999
By: Sharon L. Cohen
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In 1839, Yale-educated attorney Roger Sherman Baldwin defended African captives involved in the Amistad revolt. Baldwin enlisted assistance from the bank's first president - his father - and several of its abolitionist directors for this historic case.
These men had founded the New Haven Savings Bank only a year earlier. They established it as a mutual savings bank, with the institution operating for the benefit of depositors and the wider community.
More than 160 years later, unlike many banks that have failed, gone public or merged, New Haven Savings remains independent. In fact, it is the city's only remaining hometown bank.
As such, “We have the responsibility to step up and take a leadership role in the cities, towns and neighborhoods where our customers live and work,” says Charles L. Terrell, chairman, president and CEO. He notes that the bank's community involvement is needed more than ever as companies move out of the area or are acquired by out-of-state corporations. The bank's 33 branches stretch from New Haven, to Old Saybrook, to Chester, to Wallingford, to Seymour and Milford.
The bank takes that responsibility seriously, with a history of strong support for community social-service agencies, arts, health and education. Over the years, it's been a consistent supporter of such area organizations as the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Long Wharf Theater, Dwight School, Habitat for Humanity and the West Haven Community House.
In addition, the bank donates to causes throughout its wider service area, including the Clinton Bluefish Festival, the Chester ice-carving contest and the Connecticut River Museum.
Last year, the Greater New Haven Arts Council named New Haven Savings a “Pillar of the Arts.” And the United Way of Greater New Haven announced that the bank's contribution of $80,000 was the largest per-capita corporate gift received. The bank is also a member of a United Way task force that is determining ways to increase the collaboration of community resources, says Hart Caparulo, the organization's executive director. “The bank not only gives funds to the community, but funds that will leverage other resources to make a meaningful difference.”
In 1998, the bank decided to go one step further by establishing a foundation, “so we could assure community giving in perpetuity,” says Paul McCraven. This year McCraven added to his role as the bank's vice president of community relations by becoming the first executive director of this New Haven Savings Bank Foundation. Bank directors Cornell Scott, executive director of the Hill Health Center, and Julia McNamara, president of Albertus Magnus College, respectively act as chair and vice chair.
The bank will contribute ten percent of its annual net profits for charitable contributions, community events, activities and foundation gifts. “Our goal is to grow an endowment to sustain $500,000 in annual giving,” McCraven explains. In 1998 the bank reached an all-time high of more than $2 billion in assets, which gives it the largest depositor base in the region.
As the region's only remaining hometown bank, New Haven Savings is seeing an ever-increasing demand for financial support. Terrell and the board saw a need to establish a vehicle that could meet these requests over the long haul, regardless of the bank's year-to-year performance. An endowment made good sense. The foundation presently holds $4 million, with $250,000 of donations already given to such groups as LEAP, the New Haven Symphony and the New Haven Boys & Girls Club.
The bank also undertook another initiative this past year to stimulate economic development in the area. In November it created a $15 million venture-capital fund to invest in high-tech companies. The bank put up $5 million, which the U.S. Small Business Administration will match $2 for $1. The money will be invested through the Cambridge, Mass.-based Zero Stage Capital Co., which will set up an office in New Haven Savings' Church Street headquarters.
The goal is to benefit local entrepreneurs as well as attract new businesses. The venture-capital fund will fill a gap in equity lending, says Terrell. Most banks will not fund organizations that do not meet the requirements for traditional lending vehicles, despite the fact that they have the potential for high growth and going public.
Zero Stage will team with the bank, as well as Yale University and other local institutions, to identify companies that offer the most promise for investments. “This venture fund is a tremendous boost for would-be entrepreneurs as well as to the economic development of the New Haven region,” says Bruce Alexander, Yale's vice president for New Haven and state affairs.
To spur downtown New Haven revitalization, the bank recently created the Town Green Special Services District Loan Program. It set aside $5 million for prime-rate loans to businesses presently located in the Town Green district or planning to locate there. The loan program also offers more flexibility by providing funds to businesses, such as restaurants, which do not typically qualify for conventional bank financing.
Ashley Sheridan says his newly opened Irish pub and restaurant, Anna Liffey's, has made double what his business plan had forecast. He's sold more Guinness than any bar in Connecticut - 89,100 pints of the creamy, dark elixir alone. That's about 18-20 kegs a week. “We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for New Haven Savings,” says Sheridan. “Nine other banks refused to look at our business plan.”
The bank unveiled another loan program in November for the Highwood district, which has been targeted by both New Haven and Hamden as a revitalization zone. Two million dollars has been earmarked to support commercial businesses in this area.
Terrell adds that New Haven Savings is presently looking at additional ways to expand its role in both lending programs and services to mom-and-pop businesses. As a community bank, “We understand their unique needs, which are not one-size-fits-all.
New Haven Savings has set up a number of programs to create more and better affordable housing in the area, including ownership and operation of the Fairbanks elderly housing complex in the city's Fair Haven District. It has also invested in the Howe Street Limited Partnership to refurbish the YMCA as housing for welfare-dependent or low- to moderate-income families.
In addition, the bank is a member of the Partnership to Enhance Neighborhoods, which comprises several area banks, city of New Haven officials and other interested parties. The partnership's mission is to improve neighborhood stability through the rehabilitation of blighted properties, ultimately creating home-ownership opportunities.
An example of the group's efforts is the redevelopment of Kensington Square for low-income family housing in the Dwight-Edgewood neighborhood.
Housing redevelopment goes beyond the Elm City proper into other banking communities. Chester Housing Associates, for example, is a Connecticut limited partnership formed to construct, own and operate a low-income elderly residential apartment complex in that Connecticut River valley community. The bank has disbursed approximately $362,000.
As its marketing slogan proclaims, New Haven Savings has earned its improbably reputation as “A Very Nice Bank.” As this article went to press, New Haven probate judge Jack Keyes called McCraven to relate how the bank would be involved with yet another community venture.
Under a new Connecticut program, Relative Care Givers (aunts, uncles, grandparents and siblings) in the city will receive state grants to care for their minor relatives. The grant money will be deposited in New Haven Savings, “which of all area banks seems to be the one that most cares about the community,” Keyes says.
As a “very nice bank,” New Having Savings expects its employees, officers and board members to become involved in their communities. Board members are chosen not only for their financial know-how but also their local commitment.
And for the past several years, the bank has asked each of its employees - from tellers to senior officers - to volunteer with at least two charitable organizations a year. Some devote concentrated time to annual special events; others lend their support several times a month. It's common to see employees building homes for Habitat for Humanity each weekend, for example.
The bank allows employees to take time off during working hours to make contribution to their communities, says McCraven. He's presently developing a mentoring program that would link New Haven Savings' associates with students in need of role models for friendship and counsel.
The bank's employees have a role model of their own. New Haven native Terrell strongly believes in giving back to one's community. He joined the bank as senior accountant in 1976, moving on to controller, vice president and then president, CEO and treasurer in 1989. This past year, he became chairman, president and CEO.
In a May 1998 editorial in the New Haven Register, Terrell stressed the need for “more people to join the ranks of this nation's volunteers.” Unlike others who are concerned that voluntarism may decline, he is “optimistic that America's remarkable volunteer concept will continue.”
Terrell and his wife, Martha, have had 20 foster children over the past 25 years. In addition to being on numerous boards, the bank chairman has devoted considerable time to such organizations as the Hospital of Saint Raphael, the symphony and the Institute Library of New Haven. Recently he has been involved with the development of Amistad Academy, which has applied to the state for approval as a charter school this coming September.
Terrell has been a longtime soccer coach and player. He values the sport because it demands a team approach - not one individual pulling the whole team to victory.
He also sees the value of team efforts for the city of New Haven. He's joining CEOs from major companies and educational institutions on the Regional Leadership Council, for example, to develop long-term projects to improve the city's image and thus attract more visitors and developers.
It's been a long time, Terrell says, since organizations have been so committed to New Haven. He foresees growth for the city, and the bank along with it, as these partnerships are strengthened in coming years.
A very nice bank, indeed.
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