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OCTOBER 2, 2017 • HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL | 11 Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which was in response to the national real estate and financial markets crash of 2008. While the Great Recession had a major impact on Connecticut's economy — causing the state to shed 119,000 jobs and tightening credit availability to businesses and individuals — in-state banks were largely able to weather the storm, thanks to conservative lending standards that prevented many of them from doling out subprime mortgages and other low-quality loans. Some Connecticut banks — Webster Bank, Simsbury Bank and Trust, First Litchfield Financial Corp., and Salisbury Bancorp — did participate in the controversial Troubled Asset Relief Program, which seeded lenders with government funds to free up credit markets. One of President Donald Trump's early actions when he assumed office was to roll back some Dodd-Frank rules, but how that plays out is yet to be seen. And despite the general trend of big banks getting bigger, Brouillard says there's still a secure place for community banks like SI. "I think a lot of our growth has been helped by some of the consolidations that have occurred," he said, explaining that locally based banks have stronger ties to the communities they serve, which can be an advantage. The rise of credit unions Competition in the banking sector hasn't just come from big banks gobbling up smaller ones. The credit union business has changed tremendously over the last 25 years. While credit unions were once limited to serving a very small group of people — employees of a company, for example — today many have charters to accept deposits from much broader geographies. For example, American Eagle Federal Credit Union (AEFCU) was founded in 1935 by a group of employees at Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford. In 2006, the credit union was approved for a new charter that allowed it to accept deposits from beyond Pratt to any residents of Hartford, Middlesex and Tolland counties. Later, it also began accepting deposits from residents of New Haven County. Today, American Eagle Financial Credit Union, as its now known, has $1.45 billion in assets. Technology's impact Like all industries, banks have kept pace with the breakneck speed of change in technology. ATMs, in many ways, are being replaced by online and mobile banking, making brick-and-mortar branches less popular. "We're closing about 1,000 branches a year as an industry," Brouillard said. "A lot of that is because the foot traffic at the branch isn't anywhere near what it was. It used to be that you would see lines out the door all day long. You don't see those kinds of lines at banks anymore." Changes in Connecticut's Banking Industry Dec. 1994 Dec. 2016 % Change No. of banks in Connecticut 106 42 -60.4% Total employees 24,326 14,095 -42.1% Total assets $74.7B $104.9B 40.50% Total loans & leases $45.7B $76.5B 67.30% Total deposits $57.1B $79.4B 39.10% Percent of unprofitable banks 16.04 4.76 -70.3% Non-performing assets to total assets 1.67% 0.59% -64.7% Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Financial audits are technically complex and labor intensive. Our firm has a dedicated group of professionals who only work in the audit and accounting area. For them, this is not a sideline, it's their sole business. This is important because if we are obsessed with the details of your financial audit, then you won't have to give it a second thought. Federman, Lally & Remis – Not Your Typical Bean Counters. Healthy obsession. 231 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06032 | 860-678-7100 | www.flrcpa.com FLR25_Mountain_HBJ_HalfPg.indd 1 12/7/16 9:10 AM