Anthony Botelho is president and CEO of Smithfield-based Freedom National Bank, a position he has held since 2011. Before that, he was senior vice president and chief adminstrative officer at Citizens Bank. He holds a B.S. from URI and an MBA from Bryant University.
PBN: Freedom National Bank recently reached $100 million in assets. What effect will that have on the bank? On its customers?
BOTELHO: Freedom National Bank began operations as a Rhode Island-based community bank in November 2001. Our mission is to provide commercial banking services to Rhode Island based companies in an efficient and effective manner with a personal touch. Reaching the $100 million milestone will help us in terms of making more businesses aware of us, and allow us to provide more options to our customers. It also tells our existing and future clients that we have a “growth strategy” and we are here to provide for them.
PBN: Despite the growth in Freedom National’s balance sheet, it is still one of the smallest banks based in Rhode Island, and one of the smallest operating in the region. What do you see as you competitive advantage against banks the size of Bank of America?
BOTELHO: While Freedom’s growth over the past three years has been impressive, our size and scope remains exactly what the community banking customer is looking for. The client base focuses on “who” makes the decisions, whether the decisions are made locally and can their commercial bank deliver on its commitments. Meeting these requirements has contributed to our success and our clients recognize this. More importantly, they continue to benefit from their relationship with Freedom. Our biggest competitive advantage against the “big” banks can be summarized as follows:
I would also add that our colleagues are truly nice people who are experienced and professional.
PBN: Recent economic forecasts show Rhode Island is recovering, but slowly. How seriously did the recession and subsequent slow recovery affect Freedom National’s customers? Do you think they felt the downturn more or less seriously than the rest of the state?
BOTELHO: I agree with the economic forecast showing Rhode Island is recovering slowly. However, our core Rhode Island customer base has been very resilient and has actually fared pretty well in recent years. Based upon my conversation with other bank CEOs, our client base has held up well. We see financials improving and our Asset Quality and Delinquencies are in the best condition in the bank’s history. We focus on proven management teams, solid business models and long standing clients who have weathered economic cycles in the past.
PBN: As a follow up, is the bank seeing a pickup in activity that would indicate the state is gaining momentum? Should the state be doing better? Can you see any specific reason why it isn’t (if it isn’t) or if it is doing better than can be expected?
BOTELHO: Yes, we are starting to see a pickup in activity in terms of our commercial client base and new relationship opportunities. There has been some pent up demand across many industries. Further, the positive economic reports and results are starting to bring a higher confidence level to companies throughout the region, including Rhode Island. Our client base is very hopeful that a more business friendly climate will result from new leadership at the State House. I know access to capital for small business is a challenge here and organizations like the SBA, led by Mark Hayward are working hard to fill that need. We are very proud that Freedom has been able to play an important role in this area over the past two years and that we have a strong SBA ranking in Rhode Island.
PBN: In reaching this new asset milestone, Freedom National is looking to make larger transactions. Explain how these new loans, lines of credit and the like are different from what you do now. Will this kind of lending bring new kinds of customers to the bank?
BOTELHO: The new milestone is a great achievement and something our team at the bank is very proud of, but it won’t change our philosophy or the way we do business. Our strategy will remain focused on small business lending, providing relevant commercial and consumer products and services while expanding our client base throughout Rhode Island. We won’t lose sight of what has made us successful over the past three years. It is all about our clients, the communities we serve and our colleagues, who are the best in the industry – in my humble opinion. We anticipate that our growing array of products will make us competitive and compelling to do business with. Finally: our people truly are the “secret sauce” which has led to new clients from all types of industries across this great state.
