Gerry Nadeau serves as president of Rockland Trust Co. He has worked with the company for 36 years, starting as a management trainee before becoming head of its commercial banking division in 2007 and, as of 2017, its president and a member of the board of directors.
PBN: Having worked in the banking industry for nearly 40 years, what strikes you as the biggest change since you started? What has remained consistent throughout that time?
NADEAU: The biggest change from my perspective is how quickly banking in general is able to move now. We were still very efficient but everything was paper – from passbook accounts to statement balances to the written correspondence we had with our customers versus the emails and texts of today.
Banking in general, and especially for Rockland Trust, has changed dramatically in terms of its digital functionality and its customer offerings. In fact, we were one of the first banks to provide a mobile deposit application in our area.
In terms of what’s remained consistent – well it’s the focus on the customer. It is and will always be the goal to ensure customers are heard, protected and celebrated.
PBN: What advice would you give to business owners struggling to understand how to manage their financial needs in the current climate?
NADEAU: The best advice I can give is to talk to your banker and other trusted advisers to understand your options. We are all going through something that not many others have seen before. COVID-19 was certainly not anticipated.
I encourage all business owners to reach out to their banker, explain your story so that you can find solutions together that will help you get through this. If we know one thing, it’s that this pandemic will not last forever. But a good business strategy can help you through this.
PBN: What is your biggest takeaway/lesson learned from the U.S. Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program experience?
NADEAU: PPP reiterated the importance of teamwork and communication, as these two elements were critical for getting through those weeks of the program.
From April 1 through July 31, 436 Rockland Trust employees across industries participated in teams working together to meet the needs of others and, ultimately, our business customers’ needs to deliver the financial support of the PPP program. These 436 employees worked 18- to 20-hour days seven days per week on PPP application processing, in addition to managing their regular responsibilities.
Those are some impressive numbers and I’m really humbled by how invested and dedicated everyone was and still is in working to meet our customer needs!
PBN: As a bank that was built by business owners to support business owners, what is Rockland Trust focusing on to provide support to their business customers today?
NADEAU: Well, there’s a few things actually. PPP forgiveness is still ongoing. We’ve been hosting webinars, posting FAQs and we launched an online portal to support our customers through the forgiveness process. As you can imagine, there are a lot of moving parts but we’re working very hard to ensure our customers know how to move forward.
But our business customers also are focused on cash flow and keeping those businesses afloat. As I mentioned, no one truly has a rule book for how to manage through a pandemic, but we have been working with our customers to provide options that are helpful to them. Those options could include lines of credit, refinance options, or even perhaps something like an SBA 7(a) loan. The most important thing I want to focus on is that each business owner’s situation will be different, which means the solution will be different. I encourage everyone to reach out to their banker to understand the options that will work best for them.
PBN: What long-term impacts do you think the pandemic will have on commercial lending within Rockland Trust and the industry as a whole?
NADEAU: It might be too soon to tell with so many unknowns at this time. I can tell you that we are still lending and at a similar volume to 2019. This is where customer communication again is so important. The more transparent we are with our customers, and they with us, the more we’re able to help before problems become unmanageable.
I’d say we’re watching industries such as hospitality and restaurants closely, and we’re also mindful of construction, which has not slowed as much as one would think, particularly in more-suburban locations. What we are also watching, however, is what other support might be available for our customers, such as another round of PPP. Our hope is that within the next few months the availability of further support could make a big difference in helping all business owners through this difficult period.
Nancy Lavin is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.
