Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com November 30, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 13 Wall Street, which securitized huge pools of commercial and home mortgages that were sold off to investors worldwide. However, as the economy cooled, many of the loans' repayments faltered, or their underlying real estate plummeted in value. With most large lenders forced by regu- lators and the marketplace to tighten their loan underwriting, some say many consum- ers now find it easier to get a mortgage from a local lender. "The mortgages are coming back into the community bank sector," Patrick said. Another big Connecticut mortgage issuer, Glastonbury's United Bank, too, has beefed up its retail-loan staff from 13 to 30 in its 51 branches and loan-production offices in its Connecticut/Massachusetts turf, said Bran- don Lorey, senior vice president who heads consumer lending. In addition, the bank opened three loan-production offices — two in Connecticut, one outside Boston — in the past year to generate more home loans, he said. "It's been a winning combination so far,'' Lorey said. United went from $282 million in home- purchase loans and refis in 2013 to $378 mil- lion in 2014, Lorey said. Through the first nine months of 2015, the bank has funded $558 million for mortgages. Simsbury Bank, along with opening four new mortgage loan-production offices in Con- necticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the past year, has stepped up its wholesale purchases of loans through mortgage brokers, President and CEO Martin Geitz said. One quarter of the bank's new mortgage volume today comes via its wholesale channel vs. 10 percent a year ago. By mid-November, Simsbury Bank's over- all volume of new mortgages stood at $119 million vs. $64 million a year ago, Geitz said. "Our volume is pretty robust for us this year,'' he said. n Show your finances who's boss Simsbury Bank Cash Management Solutions To learn more, visit SimsburyBank.com/CashManagement Simsbury Bank's Cash Management Suite gives you the flexibility to simplify and manage the flow of money through your organization. Whether you need to view and conduct business online or are looking for automated financial services, we can offer a comprehensive package tailored to your unique business needs. CT Mortgage Loan Volume Total loans' Year value (in $000s) 2007 $29,295,332 2008 $21,439,127 2012 $31,250,855 2013 $27,049,942 2014 $16,797,630 S O U R C E : G E O D A T A V I S I O N CT Mortgage Loan Originations Total number Year of loans 2007 126,070 2008 84,437 2012 115,338 2013 98,720 2014 57,661 S O U R C E : G E O D A T A V I S I O N complete medical school and residencies in the same state, according to AAMC. But it's something. And it could help address the challenge of convincing new doctors to go into primary care, which gen- erally pays worse than specialties. "If you're graduating from medical school with $200,000 in debt, you might say 'maybe being a dermatologist is a bet- ter choice for me,' " Koeppen said. Koeppen, who previously worked at UConn for nearly three decades, has advo- cated for the creation of a state loan-forgive- ness program, as has the Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS). Ken Ferrucci, CSMS' senior vice presi- dent of government affairs, said the soci- ety last lobbied for such a program several years ago, but the effort was unsuccessful. "I think it's one of several factors [in low retention]," Ferrucci said. He thinks a loan-forgiveness program could help fill-in some of the subspecialty shortages that exist in the state. "We know from surveys we've done that wait times for specialty services and cer- tain other services are just incredibly long. Try to find a child psychiatrist," Ferrucci said. Medical schools have begun to take mat- ters into their own hands, though efforts have been modest. Nissen and other UConn administrators, for example, are putting together plans to offer several programs aimed at increasing retention rates and the number of primary care doctors in the state. One, which could launch by 2017, is a fast-track program that would allow certain students to graduate in three years instead of four, potentially saving them tens of thou- sands of dollars in loans. The tradeoff is that students in the program must do their residencies at UConn. They're also working on a low-interest loan program for medical students who promise to practice primary care for up to three years. UConn hopes to make the 1-per- cent interest loans available to four students starting next year, Henderson said. At Quinnipiac, the school has a prima- ry care fellowship program that provides free tuition to one student in each class who pledges to go into primary care for 48 months in the six years following residency. "If they do, all the money they didn't pay was a gift," Koeppen said. "If they change their mind, then all of the money that was waived gets converted to a loan they have to give back to us." Yale did not respond to requests for com- ment for this story. n

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