In 2004, Christopher J. Motl joined Webster Bank – a commercial bank based in Waterbury, Conn., with branches and automated teller machines in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Westchester County, N.Y. Motl is executive vice president, head of commercial banking of Webster Financial Corp. and Webster Bank. Prior to his current position, he was the bank’s executive vice president and director of middle-market banking.
Before Webster, he worked at Colorado-based CoBank, part of the U.S. Farm Credit System, providing loans and financial services to cooperatives, agribusinesses and rural public utilities.
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Motl serves on the board of Special Olympics of Connecticut. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
PBN: Webster was named best overall in the Northeast region in Bank Director magazine’s recent RankingBanking study. Could you elaborate on that?
MOTL: We are very excited to be recognized as the top bank in the Northeast. Our employees are focused on the customer, and as a result we have seen solid financial performance year over year.
The [bank’s] board was recognized for “diversity and expertise, along with board performance.” And with the high level of engagement from every member, we continue to have support for our clearly defined priorities.
In the “best small-business strategy” [category], Webster received high ratings for its small-business loan products and growth. We also were cited for our overall digital strategy, especially with our small-business products.
PBN: As a leader within Webster’s commercial division, do you look at certain geographic areas for growth?
MOTL: Rather than geographically focused when considering expansion, we look at industry specialties and where we have embedded expertise for opportunities. For example, we continue to see health care and technology as areas for expansion.
PBN: What are the main trends influencing Webster’s commercial lending businesses?
MOTL: Webster’s commercial lending has been a differentiator for the company, and we are able to use the low-cost deposits from our HSA [Health Savings Accounts] business to continue to grow the bank’s interest margin.
However, commercial banking continues to diversify its risk by growing equally across all its proven lending platforms of commercial real estate, middle market, sponsor and specialty, and asset-based lending.
PBN: In Webster’s banking footprint, is commercial construction on the rise? And which sectors seem to be strongest?
MOTL: Recently, we have seen an increase in commercial real estate opportunities and a higher level of competition for a limited number of high-quality real estate projects.
The type of project and the local economy are definitely considerations when lending against real estate. But we have seen opportunities with reputable investors in the apartment sector.
On the flip side, we have always been selective with regard to retail and really only finance nondiscretionary retail with a strong anchor tenant. We believe the “Amazon effect” [online retail] will impact the use of retail space in the future, so we will continue to evaluate those opportunities as they arise.
PBN: In serving Rhode Island in commercial banking, does Webster’s strategy involve growth, maintenance, or contraction?
MOTL: We are significantly invested in Rhode Island, have hired in Rhode Island this past year and will hire in 2019 under the strong leadership of our regional president and regional middle-market manager, Doug Scala.
Commercial banking has offices located in most cities in southern New England and we will hire the best employees to serve our customers within our chosen industries and products.
Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Blake@PBN.com.
