New Hudson Valley Bank chief embraces challenges
For many, 40 is the age of reckoning, when the mid-life crises begin to take hold.
At Hudson Valley Bank, which in May celebrated its 40th anniversary, newly appointed CEO and President Stephen R. Brown admits the challenges are daunting, as the bank seeks to navigate an increasingly unfriendly regulatory environment and a still-sluggish economy.
Brown said the Yonkers bank, which primarily serves business clients, will stay true to its vision as a community bank with local roots. But, he added, if the company hopes to continue its strong run, it will need to adapt its specialties to the changing marketplace in the Hudson Valley and metro New York region.
“We do need to grow the business so we need to find areas that offer opportunities for us to generate more revenue,” Brown said. “In some cases we will need to re-engineer our skill sets and adapt our skills to meet the needs of the marketplace. So that takes an investment of our time, resources and training, which we are prepared to make.”
Brown in May was appointed CEO and president of Hudson Valley Bank and its parent company, Hudson Valley Holding Corp., while James J. Landy, who had served as CEO since 2001, was appointed executive chairman following the retirement of long-time chairman and founding member William E. Griffin.
After joining Hudson Valley Bank in 1993, Brown was named senior executive vice president and CFO in 2001. He has also served on the Hudson Valley Holding Corp. board of directors since 2001.
Brown inherits an institution that ranks among the region”™s largest community banks, with more than $2.8 billion in assets, $2.4 billion in deposits and 36 branches in Westchester and Rockland counties, Fairfield County and New Haven County, Conn., the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Given the bank”™s relatively small footprint compared to the JPMorgan”™s and Bank of America”™s, Brown said the market opportunity is “tremendously strong” despite economic and regulatory challenges facing the banking industry.
“We have a marketplace here with many large institutions ”¦ that tend to have trouble consistently servicing their customers,” Brown said. “And that”™s where we can do well. We can pick up customers from other institutions that have become frustrated with how those institutions do business with their customers.”
Going forward, Brown said the management team will examine its niche industries to determine if there are other areas that can be explored.
Hudson Valley Bank currently specializes in serving legal practices, property managers and developers, nonprofits and public service companies such as hospitals and health care providers, in addition to serving general business and small business clients.
“We don”™t try to be all things to all people ”“ we try to pick niches in a really, really big market in metro New York,” Brown said. “It takes an investment in time and people on our part to understand the nuances of those businesses and their special needs.”
An area of growing importance for the bank will be forming business partnerships with companies that operate in the health care industry, he said.
“The medical field is a growing part of our economy,” Brown said. “We have an aging population in the New York metro area, so we”™re taking the involvement we have now to a higher level with medical service providers, professional groups, transitional health care providers and the like.”
Hudson Valley Bank recently opened a second Rockland County branch, and Brown said more branch openings are likely.
Across the state border, Brown said the bank was satisfied with its physical presence in Fairfield County, adding that it now becomes “a matter of having the right number of people there.”