Springfield-based Nuvo Bank & Trust Co. turned a $50,000 operating profit in the second quarter, the first quarter of profitability for the three-year-old bank.

In the first quarter, the 13-employee commercial bank reported an operating loss of $96,000. It lost $46,000 in the first half.

CEO M. Dale Janes said the bank’s first profitable quarter puts it on the track established when the bank opened in April 2008. Then, the bank said it would be profitable in three years.

Janes, who joined the bank in 2009, said though the bank opened during a recession, it benefitted from it, as well.

"It was very difficult to gain any traction," Janes told Banker & Tradesman. "We didn’t have any bad loans. We didn’t have any loans. We didn’t over-buy. We didn’t have any baggage."

State Commissioner of Banks David Cotney said, "Given the weak economic environment, the past few years have been a challenge. However, continued consolidation in the banking industries will create opportunities for new, well-organized banks to enter the marketplace."

Nuvo has one office, a former Bay Bank branch in downtown Springfield – where Janes and other Nuvo executives once worked.

Janes said when the bank hits $200 million-$225 million in assets, it will begin opening new branches.

"We’re through the survival stage and into the growth stage," Janes said. "We’re maintaining expenses. We’re hiring. We’re trying to continue judicious growth. We’re starting to jog a little bit. When we hit $200 million-$225 million, we’ll really be running."

At the end of the second quarter, the bank reported assets of $75.3 million, compared to $65 million at the end of last year, an increase of almost 16 percent.