Timothy Coggins has been appointed senior vice president and team leader in the commercial banking division at BankRI. He will be responsible for developing new relationships with businesses and managing a group of commercial lenders. Coggins has more than 10 years of experience in banking, having held senior-level positions at both Sovereign Bank and Fleet Bank. He also has 10 years experience in running his own retail business.
PBN: What are you looking forward to in your new position?
COGGINS: I am looking forward to working with Rhode Island companies to help them grow and achieve their goals. I enjoy working with clients, getting to know them and building an understanding of their businesses. BankRI has been very active in commercial lending, so I know I will be busy.
PBN: What made you decide to begin a career in commercial banking?
COGGINS: I got my start in banking at Fleet Bank. Fleet put me in their credit-training program. It gave me a good foundation and the tools I needed to become a banker. I found it interesting work and I was good at it. After my training, I worked in their precious-metals lending group.
PBN: In your opinion, how will your experiences as an entrepreneur and small-business owner assist you in your new position at BankRI?
COGGINS: It gives me a fairly unique perspective when talking to a business owner. I have been on the other side of a loan application and I know how the process feels. Having a banker that I could trust was very important to me. Now I try to be the kind of banker that I needed when I ran my own business. •
