Like a rising phoenix from the ashes of a financial crisis, Geauga Savings Bank is not only back on the radar, but is reinventing itself.
Incoming president and CEO Jim Kleinfelter wants residents and business owners in Geauga, Cuyahoga and Lake counties to know they have another vigorous, full-service community bank in their neighborhood.
“When the recession hit, (the bank) hunkered down and made almost no loans, only renewals and now the bank has gradually been reintroducing its lending products. We are steadily expanding our product offerings so that we have a complete line of banking and lending services and products,” said Kleinfelter, who has been serving as the acting president of GSB since former President Allen Lencioni resigned in June.
Services include commercial and commercial real estate loans, agriculture loans and construction loans. The bank will soon be rolling out owner-occupied home loans, personal residence loans, home equity lines of credit and consumer loans as well, he said.
Kleinfelter officially became president and CEO Aug. 21. He decided to take the job after a 12-year stint as a consultant with Young and Associates, Inc.
“After 12 years of constant overnight travel, the thought of being home every night was very appealing,” he said in a recent interview. “We have a real chance to rebuild the bank and grow the bank and we have all the people and all the tools to do it.”
One of those people is a familiar face — former longtime GSB President Betty Kimbrew, who Kleinfelter wanted to bring back into the fold for various reasons, including her history with the company.
“Because of how well-known she is and how well-thought-of she is,” he said, adding Kimbrew — who served as bank president from 1988 to 2008 — will be helpful in rebuilding the bank’s reputation and presence as the community relations manager.
“The bank really wants to get back to its grassroots and that is serving northeastern Ohio with lending and deposit products,” Kimbrew said.
When the economy crashed in 2008, Kimbrew left GSB to serve as executive director of Geauga County Habitat for Humanity and Lencioni came on to perform damage control and lead the bank through some of the difficulties. The bank eventually saw the light at the end of the tunnel and is now ready to be the best it can be for its patrons.
“We know we can’t be all things to all people but we plan to be most things to most people in terms of financing,” Kleinfelter said. “There’s a real niche in a 5-mile radius of big homes with lots of land or horse farms that the big banks don’t want to do or don’t have a way of doing them because they won’t fit into the traditional residential lending, so I think there’s a real opportunity for us there.”
As for other reasons to “go local” when banking, Kleinfelter mentioned “quick decision making, no multi-layered committees to make decisions, high tech and high touch.”
Geauga Savings Bank is located at 10800 Kinsman Rd. in Newbury. For more information on the bank and its products, visit www.GeaugaSavings.com or call 440-564-9441.