If TD Bank’s plans for Rhode Island are to come to fruition, Robert A. Kolb has a lot to do in a short amount of time.
TD Bank N.A., a $134 billion U.S. subsidiary of Toronto-based TD Bank Financial Group, wants to build as many as two dozen branches in the Ocean State in the next four years. Kolb has been assigned to the task.
Plans are in the works for a branch – TD Bank calls them stores – in Barrington in November, following by outlets in East Providence, Johnston and Providence.
PBN: Unemployment is high; the state has some serious financial troubles; there are dozens of well-established banks and credit unions in Rhode Island. Why is TD Bank so eager to be here?
KOLB: We’re in every New England state except for Rhode Island. We’re also in New York as well as the mid-Atlantic states. So Rhode Island is a natural progression and spot on the map to fill in so our footprint is filled out.
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PBN: Is there something that’s particularly attractive about the state? PBN: But there is no shortage of small community banks in Rhode Island. PBN: Are you open to acquisitions in the area? PBN: Why do you refer to your bank branches as stores? PBN: Let’s talk about your plans for Rhode Island. You have a branch in the works. PBN: Hiring-wise, what do you see as far as headcount in Rhode Island? PBN: Have you heard of or seen any reaction from competitors in the state yet? INTERVIEW
KOLB: We think there’s some tremendous opportunity under our brand and our model where we can introduce our “wow” brand. It’s customer excitement, passion at the employee level, introduce that to a market that we think is in need of that, and start with a few stores – as we call them – in November and build it out to where over the next four or five years we’ve got 20 to 25 stores. If you look at across the state of Rhode Island, it’s less than 1 million people, high unemployment. But there is a tremendous amount of opportunity on the small-business side and on the retail side.
PBN: Again, there are already plenty of banks and credit unions here. What void are you referring to?
KOLB: We bring to the table a brand and level of excitement that has been missing in the banking industry for a long time. We want to treat the customer like you are coming to visit my house. Those are the days of community banking where you knew the name of the customer coming in and give them a sense that whether they walk into a store in Barrington or Portland, Maine, they’re going to get the same level of service and feel wherever they go.
KOLB: I think the community bank model is a good model, in that you get to know your banker, you get to know the personnel. But we can also bring the muscle of a half trillion dollar organization. We’ve got the muscle to come in and meet the needs of a middle-market company with $100 million in sales, but also meet the needs of the consumer down the street that wants to put a deposit in the bank. You might get some of that in one place or another place. We try to deliver that to everybody.
We have a tremendous amount of capital. We stayed extremely healthy, avoided a lot of risky investment. It puts us in a position where we can grow the bank in a “de novo” [building their own branches] strategy.
KOLB: No. Our goal in Rhode Island is to grow it out in a de novo strategy, so we do detailed site selection. We build all green stores. We find ideal locations and we build them to our specs. In that regard, we control our maneuvering into the market, and we don’t have to take on all of the things that come with an acquisition.
KOLB: We like to consider ourselves a retail organization. [The branches] are open, uncluttered and customers are welcomed. It has a very retail-oriented feel to it. In that regard, it’s also a differentiator to call ourselves stores.
We have longer hours. We open early. We stay open late; seven days a week at most of our locations. It’s a matter of being accessible to our customers. We’re closed Christmas and New Year’s, that’s about it.
KOLB: Yes, the earth is being moved in Barrington, a tremendous location, traffic and visibility. It’s a tremendous opportunity for our opening store.
Not only do we cut the ribbon on Barrington in November, but we’re moving the earth around in Johnston and East Providence as well. We have locations selected. In East Providence, it’s where Pawtucket Avenue and Newport Avenue meet. In Johnston, it’s Atwood Avenue. Then in downtown Providence, on Westminster and Dorrance [streets]. So a lot of activity for 2010. Over time, we’ll start to move in a southern direction. We’ve got five spots we’re considering for 2011. I’m not at liberty to identify them, but we like Warwick, Cranston, Middletown and the Newport area. As the footprint fills out, I could see us moving to South County towards the end of our build-out.
Through 2014, we could have as many as 20 to 25 stores throughout the entire state. To provide our brand to Rhode Island, we have got to be able to cover the state. … We’ve got to jump in and show the commitment.
KOLB: If you look at it on a per-store basis, we normally average about 10 to 15 people in each store. If you’re being optimistic and you say through 2011, we’ve got 10 stores, that’s 150 people in well-paying, good jobs.
KOLB: I haven’t felt it yet. What I have felt so far from the people I’ve talked to around the state is that there is a need out there for banks with capital to be willing to put that capital out on the street to create some jobs. So the state and the people I talk to are very welcoming. •
Robert A. Kolb
POSITION: Rhode Island market president for TD Bank
BACKGROUND: Kolb was recently appointed TD Bank’s first market president. Besides his R.I. post, he is also the bank’s market president in western and central Massachusetts, but will be relinquishing those duties in the coming months. Kolb joined TD Bank in 1997, starting as a regional executive in Berkshire County, Mass. He previously worked at BankBoston for five years.
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree in economics and finance, 1983, University of South Carolina
FIRST JOB: Started a lawn-mowing service at the age of 13 in Greenwich, Conn.
RESIDENCE: South Kingstown
AGE: 49
