John Galvani
President and CEO, OneLocal
Age: 66
Industry experience: 43 years
Even after more than 40 years in the banking industry, John Galvani has no plans to retire. He just led Norwood Bank through the acquisition of Foxboro Federal Savings, completing the merger and the conversion in early December. Then in late January, the bank announced that it has rebranded, known now as OneLocal, with the tagline “everyday banking.” The legal name – OneLocal Bank – will change in April.
Galvani started his banking career collecting installment loans at Shawmut Bank. He joined Norwood Bank in 2005 and became president and CEO in 2016. A mutual cooperative bank, OneLocal has more than $800,000 in assets and four branches.
Q: What was your goal in merging with Foxboro Federal Savings?
A: One goal was to increase our branch footprint. I met Dennis Parente at a Massachusetts Bankers convention. It was before COVID, and what struck me in talking to Dennis was that as he was explaining how they run their bank, it was very similar to how we run ours. We were a one-branch bank before the merger, so I’ve always had an eye towards who can we merge with that can expand our branch footprint. Foxboro was a perfect complement to our branch location. We are in Norwood. They are in Foxboro, Plainville and Norfolk, so there was no overlap. And it was a territory that was down the street from us – 20 minutes away – but a territory that we really haven’t done a lot in, so that was attractive. Dennis was looking to retire. Foxboro was an extremely well capitalized bank, as are we. So, everything just fell in line.
We also now have more resources to improve our digital footprint. We do feel that the magic number, asset-wise, these days is about $1 billion in terms of just having the resources to attract talent, spend money, improve digital technology, keep up with compliance and whatever else regulatory-wise that we have to deal with.
Q: Why did you decide to give the bank a new name?
A: From my early discussions with Dennis, Foxboro’s desire was not to have a geographic name on the side of their building. They had said that if we merged, they would want a non-geographic name for the combined bank, and our board was agreeable to it. We formed a subcommittee of four directors from each bank to work with a marketing agency, Stackpole Partners in Newburyport. From there, it was probably a five-month process. Stackpole sent out customer surveys, sent out employee surveys and then had employee workshops, all to get a feel for what customers and what the employees wanted and the message they wanted the new name to bring.
Q: What do you hope the name of OneLocal will accomplish for the bank?
A: Two things. For over 130 years each – because we were both established in 1889 – customers have only known the Foxboro name, and they’ve only known the Norwood name. The word “local” in it recognizes that – that we are still local. We are changing our name, but we are staying local and will always be your local bank.
The brand “OneLocal. Everyday banking” is an attempt to reach out to the next generation of customers that are coming up. We want it to say, as with our logo, that we continue to move forward. We are a bank that can give everybody everything they’re looking for. My kids, and people in their 20s and 30s and probably even 40s, have never stepped foot in a bank branch – and probably never will. Everything they do is on their phones. If we’re going to build new customers, those are the people that we need to entice to click onto our website when they Google and see “OneLocal.” It’s recognizing our longstanding customers and trying to appeal to the customers we don’t have and are trying to get.
Q: What are some of your other plans to try to get that next generation of customers?
A: We’re always trying to look at what’s around the corner. We’re never going to be on the leading edge of technology, but we can’t be on the trailing end either. So, it’s just continuing to enhance the digital platform and the digital experience for our customers and potential customers and make it as easy as possible for them to bank without stepping foot in the branch. There are people who will always use branches, and that’s why we were happy that we went from one branch to four branches.
Q: How are you trying to reach that $1 billion-asset threshold?
A: With the three additional locations, we want to increase the commercial lending that we do – both commercial real estate and construction loans – and take advantage of those three new locations for both loan growth and deposit growth. We offer municipal banking as well, so we’ll take advantage of the new territories to reach out to those municipalities to look for increased deposits.
Q: Do you see another acquisition as part of your growth plans?
A: Not in the near future.
Q: What are your goals for staffing?
A: There were no layoffs with the merger, and no one retired. One of the benefits of the merger is that with the additional amount of employees we have and the locations, we are positioned to be a $2 billion bank without adding to staff.
Q: What are some other goals you have for this bank?
A: As good of a job as both banks did in their communities as Norwood Bank and as Foxboro Federal Savings, it’s to do as good of a job or better as OneLocal in these same communities. People were extremely loyal to us because we’ve been around for so long, and we’ve treated our customers so well at both Norwood and Foxboro. I want to continue to do that but now have people associate that with OneLocal.
Galvani’s Five Favorite Travel Destinations:
- St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
- Aruba
- Bermuda
- Italy
- Portugal
