🔒‘Driven’ Sudol manages change at Simsbury Bank

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Simsbury Bank was poised for growth when President and CEO Martin J. Geitz was looking for a CFO to take charge of finances, and more.

Geitz's own role at the bank and its parent, SBT Bancorp Inc., is to map out strategy to keep the public company fiscally healthy and evolving with the times. The bank hired Richard Sudol in Aug. 2013 for one overarching reason.

“We knew we wanted to continue to grow, so it was important to us to have someone who had experience growing banks and managing change that occurs when you are growing,” Geitz said.

In his short tenure at Simsbury Bank, Sudol, 50, of New Britain, has spent the last year seeing multiple finance projects to fruition — including a capital raise of $16 million that, in part, enabled the opening last April of its first West Hartford branch as part of the bank's strategic expansion.

Part of the job in raising that capital is pitching the company to investors, a message Sudol has no trouble conveying.

“It's a good story,” he said. “Simsbury Bank is really the only public community bank in Hartford County under a billion in total assets, so we have the opportunity as some of our competition is doing to make larger loans, [and] to focus on small businesses and give them the personal service and touch that the larger banks may not provide.”

Mobile banking also has been high on the list as the bank pursues Millennials and enhancements like mobile-check capture, where devices like smartphones can be used to make deposits. That, along with person-to-person transfer, which allows customers to send or request money directly from an online or mobile service, have been introduced in the past year.

Sudol joked that he was “half way out my office door” to deposit a check in the traditional way recently when he realized he had already had a simpler tool at his fingertips.

“I thought, 'Where am I going?' ” he said. “I turned around, took a picture of my check and it was done. It's such a great feature.”

Sudol and the bank are deploying innovations in technology, because, as Geitz puts it, “In order to be competitive, you can't be a stodgy banker. The market has changed so much, and expectations of our customers, whether consumers or businesses, has changed so much. You need to be able to embrace those changes.”

Sudol's experience with Webster Bank from 1988 to 2001, particularly as it made frequent acquisitions, taught him how to manage, prepare for, and support change, he and Geitz said. Sudol attributes continued success with habits of open-mindedness and flexibility.

“I always try to evaluate what works and what doesn't work,” Sudol said.

For Simsbury Bank to be both fast-growing and successful at community banking, it needed a smart communicator who is well organized while handling functions from finance to facilities to information technology. Sudol fits the bill, Geitz said.

Sudol guided the process to raise the $16 million in capital that would provide the capacity for converting deposits into loans across the company, a feat accomplished last November.

This occurred in the context of rapid growth in which Simsbury Bank had almost doubled in size since the financial crisis of 2008. It needed the extra capital to support that growth and to meet higher regulatory capital requirements imposed on banks since the Great Recession, Geitz said.

Involved in every step, Sudol analyzed need, helped choose an investment banker, prepared regulatory filings, participated in the “road show'' to stir investor interest, and successfully concluded the debt placement and equity offer.

“He understood the expectations investors and regulators have to manage the capital,” Geitz said.

In fact, that equity offering was oversubscribed, or drew more investors than anticipated, enabling SBT to raise 20 percent more common equity than planned, Geitz said.

Sudol originally thought he'd be a certified public accountant, but found the opportunities at Webster in internal auditing and finance too tempting to resist.

In 1993, he earned his MBA from Quinnipiac University. As he became involved in strategic and financial planning, he also focused on more than 15 acquisitions at Webster during the 1990s, he said.

He then moved to Florida in 2001, working successively for Ocwen Financial Corp. in West Palm Beach and Riverside National Bank in Fort Pierce, where he continued to focus on finance strategies.

A Cheshire native, he seized the opportunity to return to the state via Simsbury Bank, he said, because the company is “well positioned and well run.”

Sudol puts in long hours and sometimes takes work home, but says the time commitment doesn't faze him. He still makes time for community service with Junior Achievement and United Way.

“When there's something that needs to be done, you just get it done, right?” he said. “Just do whatever it takes. … It's what drives me.”

The Basics

Name of organization: SBT Bancorp, parent of Simsbury Bank

Title: Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Size of organization: 90 employees

Education: B.S. in Accounting at Central Connecticut State University, MBA from Quinnipiac University

Previous job(s): Webster Bank, Ocwen Financial, Riverside National Bank, Florida Shores Bank

 On the Job

Guiding business principle: Using fact-based analysis even when the facts are hard to come by can keep companies focused.

Best way to keep your competitive edge: Constant focus on process and how to improve the way we do things. Invest in technology to gain efficiencies and consistently asking yourself: 'Is there a better more efficient process.'

Best business decision: Constant improvement, developing and improving skillset and invest in your company and yourself by staying abreast of current financial markets and accounting topics, network and stay connected in the industry. Challenge yourself constantly at work and personally. 

Worst business decision: While in Florida, a number of banks grew just for the purpose of growth alone, overpaying for facilities, customers and market share. Additionally, these companies took on risk that they could not afford to take.

Goal yet to be achieved: SBT has an opportunity grow into being the prominent local community bank that serves the financial needs of consumers and small businesses throughout Hartford County.

Personal Side

City of residence: New Britain

Favorite way to relax: Golf, tennis, reading, live music

Hobbies: Bass guitar

Last vacation: Florida

Favorite movie: Caddyshack

The car you drive: Audi A6

Currently reading: Wall Street Journal, anything written by or about Warren Buffet

Favorite cause: Education and the environment

Second choice career: Investment advisory/wealth management