| Michael Jones is a prime example of doing good by doing well.
During his tenure as one of the youngest presidents at what is possibly the country’s oldest mutual savings bank, he has shepherded Newburyport-based Institution for Savings through two years of record growth since becoming president and CEO on July 1, 2010.
Net income and income from operations have blossomed the past two fiscal years, and last year the bank was named Top Small Employer by The Boston Globe. The top spot capped a four-year run on the Globe list.
Jones is a 20-year banking industry veteran. He joined Ipswich Co-Op in 1999 as treasurer and CFO, moving up to executive vice president in 2000 and president from 2002-2007, at which time Ipswich Co-Op merged with the Institution for Savings. He had previously gained wide experience working for Wolf and Co., auditing banks.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have the right mentors, be at the right place at the right time,” he says.
He makes success sound simple – increasing the lending portfolio and investing wisely. “It’s not a tough business to figure out,” he says. “We’re in this business to bring in deposits and lend the money out.” The bank’s strategy of charging .25 percent less on loans and paying .25 percent more on deposits is a strategy that has paid off, he says.
And those profits go back into the community. Over the last two fiscal years, the bank contributed more than $2.5 million to its two charitable foundations (one of them a legacy of the former Ipswich Co-Operative Bank). Over the last five years, the two foundations have donated more than $2 million to community organizations and causes, from hospitals and schools to social service organizations. The bank has also changed its bylaws to ensure the permanency of its status as a mutual bank.
Jones is proud of the recognition from the Globe. The award is based on confidential and anonymous surveys of employees that participating companies must allow as a requisite for being considered. Three anonymous employee comments provided to the bank are as follows:
“I am impressed by how hard everyone works, in particular the CEO and COO. Their passion for the success of the Bank and the well-being of employees is infectious”
“I appreciate how family-oriented and caring everyoneis at the Institution for Savings as well as the flexibility to tend to family needs.”
“It is not only a great place to work but a second family.”
