Hartford Business Journal

22 Hartford Business Journal • September 21, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com Savage's 'down-home' style delivers for Webster Bank By Chris Dehnel Special to the Hartford Business Journal J oe Savage's 2014 appointment as Webster Financial Corp.'s presi- dent was the "longest victory lap in history," according Sarah Barr, the Waterbury bank's communications vice president. It began in the boardroom, went around the table, and spilled out into the hallway. The employees at the home office were happy; same with employ- ees at the branches. "It was that popular," Barr said. "Joe is that popular." Webster Chairman and CEO Jim Smith puts it this way: "I know I speak for the bank and the community when I say, 'well done and well deserved Joe,' " Smith said. Savage's lifetime is full of achievements, both personally and at Webster. He plowed through the muddy field of the Great Recession when he was heading up the bank's commercial division. He has an NCAA championship to his credit and runs a reason- ably large institution with a "down-home" style, what Barr calls, "the real deal." "There is nothing fake about him," Barr said. What does Savage think about all that praise? He joked that his style can be translated as "hokey," but he would never change it. "It's just me," Savage said. Beyond his personal popularity, Savage helped guide the bank through the Great Recession, which hit Webster particularly hard. Bad loans cut into the bank's earnings and hurt the company's stock price, but Webster has experienced a strong recovery. Last quarter, Webster posted record net income of $50.5 million. Savage, who has spent 13 years at Webster, said he and the com- mercial team, which he led prior to being named president, decided to look the recession in the face and stare it down by tackling bad loans and keeping customers well informed. "I think the key to all of it is that we talked to people throughout everything that had happened," Savage said. "We assured people that we were working with them, that we were standing by them, that we cared about them, that we cared about their communities." He paused for a moment. "And I think we have done alright as a result," he said. Barr said Savage used his down-home approach to deal with indi- vidual and business customers during the recession. "During the Great Recession, when other banks were running away from their customers, we were running toward them," Barr said. "That is Joe's leadership. He coached, encouraged and even humored his col- leagues. He created an expectation of success and a belief in their value." Smith said Savage delivered a "consistently high performance" over a dozen years at the bank prior to being named president. One of Webster's keys to success, Savage said, is acting like a com- munity bank, even though it's one of the largest Connecticut-based lenders with $23.6 billion in assets. "The bank handles a lot of business loans that can be as small as $100,000 but we are also not going to ignore the opportunity to lead a $100 million deal where we would retain $20 million to $30 million," Savage said. "We are comfortable as a community bank that can pro- vide, when needed, large bank product and services." Savage also has a competitive drive to win, which can be traced back to his track-and-field days at Manhattan College. He was on the 1973 NCAA indoor championship team that set a new world record in the distance medley relay. Savage ran the half-mile and the mile. Smith said Savage is both a coach and a friend who reinforces, "a winning culture." "And he is a fierce competitor who models the values that bring Webster's 3,000 bankers together," Smith said. Barr said the "same drive and determination that he brings to the bank," Savage brings to his community service as well. P H O T O | S T E V E L A S C H E V E R L I F E T I M E A C H I E V E M E N T AWA R D S 2 0 1 5

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