Bob Mahoney
Bob Mahoney took a somewhat unorthodox path into banking. He first studied chemistry at the University of Massachusetts and worked as a research chemist before he decided to try his hand at business school.
He entered the banking world in 1971 at First National Bank of Boston. Mahoney spent 22 years there before moving on to work as president of Citizens Bank of Massachusetts in 1993, helping to turn it into one of the largest banks in the country. In 2010, Mahoney came out of retirement to run Belmont Savings Bank. His New Year’s resolution? To make Belmont Savings the most admired community bank.
Title: President and CEO, Belmont Savings Bank
Age: 64
Experience: 41 years
Q: What do you mean when you say you want to be the most admired community bank?
A: Well, for one thing, it means growth. You’ve got to be growing to be admired. But more importantly, it means being a great place to work, a great place to bank and a great community partner. We try to make this a great place to work so people will stay with us, and the customers will be served by experienced, well-educated bankers who actually like what they’re doing.
To round it off, if we invest in the community, we think we can be the most admired community bank. What we find is that people in towns like Belmont and Waltham and Watertown are proud of their towns … And they want to be local in every sense … If we can deliver a bank that does all the stuff that the big banks do, from a technology standpoint and a product standpoint, they will choose that local bank.
Q: Can you tell me about some of the local causes or events that Belmont Savings supports?
A: We have a very close relationship with the Foundation for Belmont Education. That group raises money for specific programs in the Belmont schools. So we’ve invented a checking account that provides for a gift to the foundation every single time someone opens their checking account and an ongoing gift based on how big that customer’s deposits are in that account.
At Halloween, there’s a special event in Cushing Square, where all the merchants open up their doors to the kids and give out candy. Well, we gave out passbooks with $50 in them. We have an event coming up, “Turn on the Town.” Santa will be all dressed up, riding down the center of town, with a huge sleigh and a big white horse.
Q: Besides drawing customers away from the big banks, where else do you see growth in the coming year?
A: We’re also quite active in commercial real estate. We have become, over the last two years, the go-to bank for some of the best developers in Eastern Mass. These are people with 10, 15, 20 properties, from small apartment buildings to larger, multi-purpose buildings. We provide a very reliable, predictable fast response to people who are buying buildings, building buildings, leasing buildings.
Q: Do you think small banks have an advantage when it comes to commercial lending?
A: It’s about knowing the people and knowing the market … [I]f I bank in Belmont, and I’m driving by an office building day in and day out and I know the person who’s done it, and I know that he wants to buy this office building in addition to the 19 he’s bought before, and he’s done a great job and always paid his debts, that’s the kind of person I want to do business with. It’s very low-risk. Knowledge can reduce risk. Knowledge of the market and most importantly, knowledge of the people can reduce risk.
