Page 18 - BusinessWest September 18, 2023

Bob Fraser says MountainOne can grow as effectively through online banking as it can through geographic expansion.
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cial customers to go live this month; and even the name, which doesn’t tie it to one community or one region and now has strong brand recognition in the Western Mass. region, with a mascot — actually, a ‘spokesgoat’ — named
MoM. ountainOne, now with roughly $1 billion in assets, will continue to maximize these various strengths and qualities and work to attain greater market share in both regions it serves, especially in the Berkshires, said Matt Lauro, senior vice president of Commercial Lending, not- ing that, like the rest of Western Mass. — and the state, for that matter — the region is overbanked.
But it is also, in his view, underserved to some degree.
“There aren’t enough banks that are servicing large commercial clients, or commercial clients as a whole, that are really focused in Western Massachusetts,” he said. “You do have players that are primarily focused here, but there is a void resulting from the larger region- als that have tended to pull back on lending capabilities in Western Mass., and it has left C&I clients, and larger commercial-development clients, with less service than they’ve had historically.”
Added Fraser, “being headquartered in the Berk- shires, we want to be seen as the go-to bank for commer-
cial accounts and borrowers throughout Berkshire County and the surrounding areas in Western Mass.”
Both Fraser and Lauro noted that the bank’s strong roots, diver- sity of services, and strong track record in the Berkshires will serve it well during what can only be described as a time of challenge and uncertainty — when it comes to the economy, banks, and the fore- seeable future.
“Being headquartered in the Berkshires, we want to be seen as the go-to bank for commercial accounts and borrowers throughout Berkshire
County and the surrounding areas in Western Mass.”
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MountainOne
lending; the diversity of the business (there is an insurance division and an investment arm); its size — large enough to handle the needs of most businesses but small enough to provide a brand of personal- ized service — a strong focus on technology and how to use it to bet- ter serve customers, including a new digital platform for commer-
“This environment we’re in ... I’ve never experienced so much uncertainty as to where we’re headed,” Fraser said. “And an environ- ment of uncer-
tainty makes
decision mak-
ing so difficult,
MountainOne
>>
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Reserve your spot today while seats last! Equity in the 413 is a convening to support relationship building across industries and align our readiness and efforts to advance racial equity in workplaces and organizations across western Massachusetts.
Learn more and register at: bit.ly/equity413
18 SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 << BANKING & FINANCE >>
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