Hello Jake,
Thank you for your question.
I've found a few Boston banks that specialize in small business. You
may have heard this advice before-- small businesses usually get the
best support from small banks (that are relatively small businesses
themselves), so it's usually best to avoid the banking behemoths in a
situation like this. You can get to know the loan officer and avoid
the large fees that large banks will charge for business accounts.
However, some large banks, such as Comerica, have special small
business departments that can give you the feel of a community bank
atmosphere.
To begin my search, I went straight to the best source for Boston
business news: the Boston Business Journal.
Here are my recommendations from the Journal:
Patriot Community Bank
http://www.patriotcb.com/
Patriot started about a year ago, specifically to meet the needs of
small businesses in Boston.
"Patriot to be first state-chartered bank since 2000"
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2005/10/03/story6.html
"John O'Donnell, the bank's president and CEO, said Patriot will be a
full-service retail bank but also specialize in serving small
businesses with $10 million or less in annual revenue. Patriot expects
to serve its hometown of Woburn, as well as the surrounding
communities of Arlington, Bedford, Lexington, Malden and Medford.
"It's just an old, traditional, mom-and-pop bank we're trying to
establish," O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell, a Medford Cooperative Bank executive vice president until
that bank was sold in 2004 to Brookline Bancorp, said Patriot will
differentiate itself by its executives' accessibility. Customers
who'll be known by name can go straight to the president for a loan
approval."
Since Patriot is such a small bank, there really isn't as much online
about them as you would find about, say, Bank of America. For
instance, check out this Google Blog Search thread:
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a&tab=wb&q=%22patriot+community+bank%22&btnG=Search+Blogs
From the looks of it, there are only about five blog posts that
Google's robots have found on this bank. I do think you'll have
better luck getting loans and other things a growing business might
need from a small community bank and I recommend that you check
Patriot out. If the above quote is true, you can interact directly
with the bank president and other high-ranking employees and that will
certainly be a nice perk.
-----------------
Comerica Bank
http://www.comerica.com/
Imperial Bank catered to young technology start-ups, and it has been
bought by Comerica, which has taken over where Imperial left off.
Boston Business Journal
"Venture firms contribute more than just capital"
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2000/08/14/story5.html
'"In the last 12 months, we're seeing more and more venture capital
firms trying to support their portfolio companies with a variety of
services," said Dianne Hyde Russell, senior vice president and manager
at Los Angeles-based Imperial Bank's Boston office, which caters to
the startups and early-stage firms invested in by venture
capitalists.'
Here are some reviews of Comerica (although mostly from an individual
consumer standpoint):
http://www.epinions.com/finc-Financial_Services-Online-Banks-Comerica_Bank/display_~reviews
Insider Pages
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3721825984
--------------------------------
Here are a few other (relatively) small Boston banks that have made
concerted efforts to target small business customers-- they both chose
the locations of new branches specifically to target that market, so
they seem to be serious about getting and keeping this type of
business. Again, because these are small banks, there's not much
beyond these business journal articles to go on.
Danversbank
https://www.danversbank.com/Default.asp
First Ipswich Bancorp
http://www.fnbi.com/sp.cfm?pageid=445
Here is an article that reiterates that relationships are key in
establishing a business banking relationship.
Boston Business Journal
"When finding a bank, aim to invest in a relationship"
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2006/08/21/smallb4.html
The businessperson quoted in the article recommends Eastern Bank.
http://www.easternbank.com/
Sources:
Boston Business Journal
"The over-under on the Bay State's community banks"
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2005/12/19/newscolumn2.html
Sacramento Business Journal
"Comerica buys Imperial Bank, enters Sacramento market"
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2000/11/20/daily7.html
East Bay Business Journal
"Cash flows to technology and service startups"
http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2006/05/29/focus2.html
Boston Business Journal
"Burb banks branch out to the city"
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2006/10/23/story1.html
Search terms:
(on boston.bizjournals.com)
patriot community bank
bank specialize small business
charles river ventures bank
bank small business
(on search engines)
dianne hyde russell
imperial bank comerica
comerica start-ups
comerica
danversbank
comerica review
If you need any additional clarification, let me know and I'll be glad
to assist you. Best of luck!
--keystroke-ga |
