How Businesses Can Use Bankers to Maximize Their Abilities

Steve Adubato goes one-on-one with Chris Giamo, Head of the Commercial Bank at TD Bank, to discuss the state of the banking industry in the New Jersey and New York region and how businesses should use their bankers as advisors to maximize their abilities. He also shares some of the TD Charitable Foundation’s recent initiatives.

1/11/18 #2101

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"Welcome to One on One, here at the Tisch WNET Studio in the heart of New York City in Lincoln Center. We're pleased to welcome, for the first time, Chris Giamo, Executive Vice President, head of the Commercial Bank at TD Bank. How you doing? I'm good Steve. We're doing this around the holidays, 2017. Commercial banking, describe it. Does it mean business banking? Yeah, it's business banking. I mean essentially the Commercial Bank is all the commercial lending activities at TD Bank, as well as our corporate product and services area which would be treasury management, deposit products, etc, and some specialty businesses that we run as well. Hmm. Describe the quote, "state" of commercial banking in this region, because you have... you cover New Jersey, you got New York, we've got a big audience on Long Island as well, describe what's going on. Well, you know, the metropolitan area, I mean New York's the financial capital of the world. So it's a desired market for every financial institution. So it's... it's a crowded marketplace, it's a wealthy marketplace but it's also crowded, so it's highly competitive. You know this is a resilient economy, in this region... Define that. Well, I think it's slower to fall into a recession and maybe quicker to come out, and there is a lot of resiliency. I mean New Yorkers, New Jerseyans are tough people, and they find a way to make it through any type of crisis. Where did you grow up? North Jersey, not too far, right on the other side of the George Washington Bridge. It's interesting, as Jersey guys who do business in New York, in this region, what about your background and how you grew up prepared you to be in this top level position, in this incredibly competitive business? Loaded question I know. Yeah, you know, and there's probably a lot of answers to it, but I think anyone who comes from this area knows it's a pretty quick pace, and while people are very thoughtful, they're also not so thoughtful in some ways. So you gotta find your own way, and I think hard work, effort, and making it happen are things, traits, that you need to have that you can kind of carry into the workplace for sure. In terms of knowing and understanding business or businesses, what are most businesses, from your experience Chris, looking for when it comes to a bank that they're going to choose? What are they looking for? Well, you know, I think you need that customer service no matter what it..."