Riverside Bank CEO David MacFarland didn”™t plan on becoming a banker, though he”™s one of the better-known lenders in the Hudson Valley. In addition to his banking duties, he serves on 20 boards of directors for various for-profit and nonprofit entities.
Retirement? “What”™s that?” says MacFarland.
Riverside”™s net assets as of December 2007 were $152,805,238 a 2 percent decline from December 2006. While the economy is causing a slowdown, it hasn”™t hurt the bank”™s financial rating with Bauer Financial: It received its seventh consecutive five-star rating from the Florida-based agency that monitors community banks.
Though he”™s wearing his traditional banker”™s three piece suit, MacFarland is a Woodstock devotee now. He”™s chairman of the Pattern for Progress board. The group had its meeting at Allan Gerry”™s new museum at Bethel Woods Center for the Performing Arts in Liberty the morning of his interview with Hudson Valley Business.
“I almost made it to Woodstock,” recalls MacFarland with a grin. “But I was in a National Guard uniform, and we were trying to deliver water and food. We never got through, so I did miss the actual concert. Now there”™s a museum there that memorializes that entire generation. Really an incredible place to visit, and we have Allan Gerry to thank for making it possible for the Hudson Valley. I have to admit, being Pattern”™s chairman is definitely one of the highlights for me.”
He may have missed “three days of peace, music and love” but MacFarland was busy embedded in early rock ”™n”™ roll for nearly a decade. He played guitar and was groovin”™ to the sounds of Bill Haley and the Comets and Buddy Holly. “Then the Beatles came along and my band, the Storm Kings, were ”˜out.”™ The gigs ended. It was time to go from singing to a 9-to-5 job.”
MacFarland put down the six-string, took his accounting degree from Orange County Community College to Manhattan and landed a job with Con Edison. “Five hours of commuting for three days … that”™s how long I lasted. I came home and decided to try to find a job in my own city, even if it was only going to be for a nominal sum. God bless the people who commute. I couldn”™t be that far from home.”
The wily rocker-turned-starched-shirt employee found himself working at Highland National Bank as a mail boy, working his way up banking”™s ladder to coin wrapper, teller ”“ and eventually, to the presidency of Northstar Bank, “which eventually became Fleet Bank, which eventually became Bank of America.”
When Riverside came knocking at his door, MacFarland jumped from big-box banking back to small lender once more.
“At one time there were 15,000 banks in this country ”“ that number is down to 5,000. What clinched my decision to take the job at Riverside was the fact that it was a local community bank. I didn”™t want to lose that feeling of being connected to my neighbors, to be able to make a decision without going down a long chain of command.
“It”™s a good feeling to talk face-to-face to your depositors, know each other by name ”“ they know they can call you and talk to you, not get the runaround. That”™s a good feeling to have on both sides of the aisle, especially during these tough economic times. To be able to sit down and help a customer having a problem, help them work through it and come up with a solution, is very gratifying. Yes, sometimes you take a risk, but you can in a community bank, because you”™ve gotten to know the person who is asking for the loan. We have remained stable, so we know we are on the right track, even though it”™s moving slower these days.”
On this balmy Thursday with a hint of spring in the air, MacFarland”™s romancing over one of his favorite places: the shores of the Hudson River. Watching fisherman on the pier at Newburgh”™s waterfront, MacFarland says there is “no place on earth as beautiful as what we have right here,” waving his hand toward the shore. But are troubled waters ahead for Henry Hudson”™s discovery? Yes, says MacFarland. He”™s fastening his seat belt for the economic ride ahead ”“ he believes it”™s going to be a bumpy night.
Whether a mega-bank like Bank of America or a small community bank like Riverside, all banking is taking a hit ”“some worse than others, says MacFarland, just as every industry is; and while the Fed may make it a bit easier to borrow by lowering rates, the economy is sputtering: “You can”™t pretend that everything is OK and be credible. Gas is predicted to go to $4 a gallon, and I believe it. Some people went in over their heads, and the bubble burst. You just have to think, act reasonably and wait it out, do what you have to do to ride out the storm and remember ”“ this is cyclical.”
Riverside is strictly a commercial lender, so MacFarland says his bank has not been hit as hard as it could have been had it stayed in residential lending.
“We got out of that market when I became president in 2000,” says MacFarland, “I felt it was a good move for us strategically, and even in this sluggish economy, we are holding our own. Some of our customers are struggling because their vendors are struggling ”“ it is hitting everyone in one way or another.
“Some industries are thriving: Those that deal with the Department of Defense and others in the same vein are doing remarkably well. The tech industry is strong. It”™s not all doom and gloom.
“Frankly, I”™m concerned and I don”™t think we have really felt the full effect of what”™s to come, especially in the mortgage and real estate industry. That uncertainty is disturbing.”
As far as the state”™s new budget is concerned, MacFarland says he”™d rather “not talk politics ”¦ I was glad to see the Walkway over the Hudson got funding. With the rising taxes and the extra fees being tacked on to everything, I think the state”™s asking folks to take on more than they can handle … I”™m just hoping we are not hit too hard.
“It would be nice to see leadership in Albany start to realize we need to become more business friendly right here in the mid-Hudson, not a business wasteland. We know upstate needs help, but we need an infusion of money here, too. We are closest to the financial center of the world ”“ people are naturally flocking here and that is not going to stop. I think Albany should be taking a serious look at the Hudson Valley and realize we”™re an integral part of keeping business in the state. Start making life easier for our potential builders and businesses rather than scaring them away.”
MacFarland, city-born and raised, says he doubts he”™ll live to see it happen, but predicts that cities will form from the many towns and villages now dotting in the region. “New York City was not always a city ”“ it happened over time, and it will happen here. If that is what we need to happen to make our economy stronger and help consolidate services to keep things manageable and people working, I don”™t think it”™s a bad thing. Will it be different? Yes. But it is the natural progression of growth … and if we don”™t grow, we wither away.”
Friend, longtime bank customer and restaurateur Joe Bonura will be hosting the Hudson Valley Boy Scouts”™ “Man of the Year” event to honor MacFarland at the Grandview June 19, just a stone”™s throw from Riverside”™s flagship bank in downtown Poughkeepsie. MacFarland will have a commanding view of the River that Flows Both Ways ”“ and he”™s hoping the economy will start flowing in a positive direction, despite dire predictions: “I hope it comes sooner than later … but I”™m betting on later.”
