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n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m | N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 2 0 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 17 MEMBER FDIC EQUAL HOUSING LENDER NMLS #459028 Business loans of all sizes. If your company has a borrowing need of almost any size, Liberty Bank is your local lender, with the rates and products to match. y Loans, lines of credit, owner-occupied and investment mortgages of up to $50,000,000. y Specialty leasing structures for wholesale lessors. y Customized loan structures to meet your business's needs. We also offer services to better manage and protect your deposits, including: y Remote Deposit Capture allowing you to make deposits from your office. y Fraud Protection services to keep your money safe. Start growing your business today. Contact a local New Haven lender today: James Fortsch FVP, Sr. Relationship Manager Commercial Lending 203-318-3003 Tony Rossley VP, Business Banking Officer Business Lending 203-815-9864 liberty-bank.com Jeff Hubbard SVP, Regional Manager Commercial Lending 203-974-4370 Damaris Garcia VP, Branch Manager New Haven 203-974-4367 was ready. Branch Vice President Aileen DeFeo says that the Realtor had been recently shiing to virtual platforms. "Because so many of our clients are relocation clients, we were already using virtual tours, using social media platforms to market homes. We were able to expand what we did with relocation clients to all of our clients," she explains. She continues to host weekly Zoom meetings for her 160- plus agents with about 75% of interactions virtual. e result is a much more efficiently run operation. "Closings are literally taking 20 minutes now. By the time the buyers and attorneys get to the closing table, everything is done," she says. "Real estate is booming. We have a better buyer because of COVID and now we're not doing open houses and allowing strangers to walk through houses. It's all by appointment and the buyers are pre-qualified — they're serious buyers, not just kicking the tires." Cup half full ree Tuesdays each month, Executive Coach Rob omas would meet with 10 businesspeople at a diner in Milford, Fairfield or Derby. ey'd enjoy a bottomless cup of coffee and talk about the importance of networking. en March came. "March 13, I got myself a Zoom account and never looked back," he says. He moved his diner meetings — along with his other two meetings — online and hasn't missed a beat. During "Networking in Diners" each person talks about their business for four minutes, then omas gives direction for conversation before posing a business challenge. "We share our own experience about how we got through that challenge. I need to hire or fire someone, my networking sucks, my marketing isn't working, and things like that. We don't give advice," he explains. He says his membership, which has doubled since March, is loving the virtual delivery of diner meetings, guest speakers and happy hour. In October, he began with one in-person meeting a month at Derby's Valley Diner for the first 10 registrants. "I'm not sure if it'll be permanent, we'll see how it goes. It is 2020," omas says. n VIRTUAL REALITY Manufacture CT Executive Director Jamison Scott moved his association's annual meeting to a virtual format this year due to COVID-19. Rob Thomas

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