John J. O’Brien Jr., president and chief executive officer of South Shore Co-operative Bank, has been in the banking industry since 1970.

John J. O’Brien Jr. is a $101 million man. When he joined South Shore Co-operative Bank in 1994, it had $45 million in assets. A decade later, the same bank, under his supervision, has reached $146 million in assets.

O’Brien, president and chief executive officer of South Shore Co-operative Bank, said the biggest accomplishments of his last 10 years, aside from more than tripling in assets, include expanding the bank’s product line. South Shore Co-operative Bank now offers commercial lending with two full-time commercial lending employees.

“It’s a good extension of our business,” said O’Brien.

The bank now also has an Investment and Insurance Department.

“We have simply expanded the kinds of business we do,” he said.

Offering a number of services and expanding the customer base has been beneficial, O’Brien said, because the bank has seen a significant increase in deposits. That has given the bank the ability to lend in higher dollar amounts.

South Shore Co-operative also has experienced physical growth. It has been able to increase the number of branches over the past five years. The flagship branch is located on Washington Street in Weymouth but the bank recently has added offices in two other locations. South Shore Co-operative and East Bridgewater Co-operative Bank merged in 1999, resulting in a South Shore Co-operative branch on Central Street in East Bridgewater. In May 2000, the same year the bank surpassed $100 million in deposits, a third branch was opened on Franklin Street in Quincy.

The latest project O’Brien is working on is a new program for residential loans. The objective is to give customers a commitment in 15 minutes.

But with all those services at a community bank, O’Brien said he and his 52 employees don’t have a narrow job description.

“In smaller banks, you wear more than one hat,” he said.

While the bank’s smaller size allows employees to pay a good deal of attention to customers and allows for quick decisions, O’Brien said options can be limited due to the asset size.

‘Still Fun’
Despite the obstacles and challenges, O’Brien, after working more than 30 years in the banking industry, still likes coming to work.

“It is still fun,” said O’Brien. “I still enjoy the work.”

He said he gains satisfaction from helping organizations grow and giving businesses the chance to expand “by virtue of the lending we do.”

Another area in which O’Brien takes pride is the staff’s contribution to the community. About six members of the bank’s staff are involved with Meals on Wheels, a program that delivers meals to senior citizens. O’Brien said members of the staff contribute to 15 different organizations in the area.

O’Brien has his own public service duties, which include tenure as a member of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce board of directors and membership on the board of trustees for South Shore Hospital’s Health and Education Foundation.

He also serves as a director for the Massachusetts Bankers Association and as a trustee and Investment Committee member for the Cooperative Bank Employees Retirement Association.

But when he isn’t taking part in his public service duties, O’Brien and his staff members are discussing the plans they have for the development of the bank.

“Mine is [a job to] be in touch with people here [at the bank] and people in the community,” said O’Brien.

O’Brien has worked in senior management positions at banks in Massachusetts and New Hampshire since 1970, when he first started working in the banking industry. Before that he was a certified public accountant for the six years after he graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1961 with a degree in accounting.

A Worcester native, O’Brien said it doesn’t matter where in the Bay State a bank is located because there are challenges everywhere.

O’Brien said the future of the bank involves continuing to grow and obtaining a larger asset base. Finding ways to compete with other community banks is also part of the challenge O’Brien faces. He cites South Shore Co-operative’s attention to customers and professionalism as some of the ways to move ahead.

But not everything in O’Brien’s life is about banking. He and his wife, Janet, live one mile away from the bank in Weymouth. They have four adult children, six grandchildren and another on the way.