NewHavenBIZ

30 n e w h a v e n B I Z | N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 8 n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m F O C U S | B a n k i n g & F i n a n c e START ME UP Start Community Bank tabs a political power player By Liese Klein I n an industry dominated by consolidation, where new banks are few and far between, Start Community Bank of New Ha- ven has been a singular success story. Formed 2004 with $27 mil- lion in capitalization, it has grown to some $140 million in assets and achieved profitability in its sixth year of operation. Not bad for a bank that focuses on its mission to help small busi- nesses in the New Haven area and remain a locally owned and man- aged community institution. Key to the bank's success has been the leadership of John DeStefano Jr., New Haven's mayor for two decades (1994-2014) and a incorporating director of Start Community Bank. Currently the bank's executive vice president, DeStefano has seen its role evolve and grow with the city's business community. "Our mission largely has to do with small-business lending, commercial real-estate lending. Half of it's in New Haven, half of it's in greater New Haven and we tend to be the kind of organization that knows our customers," DeStefano says. "We're not in competition with the big banks or the big regionals — our mission is to be close to the community of which we're a part." Start Community Bank arose in the aermath of the demutualiza- tion of New Haven Savings Bank, in which it was converted into a public company. e 167-year-old New Haven institution was merged with two other banks to form NewAl- liance Bank in 2004, then merged into First Niagara Bank before being acquired by Ohio-based KeyBank in 2016. "I think there were concerns that if New Haven Savings Bank demutualized and created share- holders, ultimately the bank would be sold, which has happened twice. Instead of being a bank headquar- tered on Church and Elm, it is now headquartered in Cleveland. at's fine, and KeyBank's a good bank, but we think that there are different lanes for different kinds of banks," DeStefano says. Start EVP and DeStefano: 'Our mission is to be close to the community of which we're a part.'

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