SYRACUSE — JPMorgan Chase Bank recently reunited upstate communities into its new upstate New York market and tapped William Dehmer to lead the new market. The commercial banking middle market region combines seven markets — Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Elmira, Western New England, and Northern Pennsylvania. The move makes sense for a number of reasons, […]
SYRACUSE — JPMorgan Chase Bank recently reunited upstate communities into its new upstate New York market and tapped William Dehmer to lead the new market.
The commercial banking middle market region combines seven markets — Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Elmira, Western New England, and Northern Pennsylvania. The move makes sense for a number of reasons, Dehmer says.
First, 32 of Dehmer’s 35 years in commercial banking have been in the upstate New York region, so he knows the territory. “I know the market. I know many of the companies, and I know the opportunities,” he says.
During his 25 years with Chase, Dehmer has also served as team leader, regional manager, and division manager for the Albany and Syracuse markets; market manager for the Connecticut/Bronx/Westchester market; and, most recently, as market manager for the New York Upstate East/New England markets since 2012.
The upstate cities — minus New England and Pennsylvania — were previously united into one market until several years ago, Dehmer notes. At that time, it made sense to restructure markets to focus on growing the bank’s business in New England. Now that the New England market is doing well, it makes sense to shift focus once again and join the upstate region back together, he says. Western New England and Northern Pennsylvania are included because the regions have many similarities.
The change is a good one that allows Chase (www.chase.com) to streamline and sharpen its focus on the market, Dehmer says. The primary goal is to grow Chase’s market share across the region, particularly in New England and Pennsylvania.
According to the FDIC’s June 30, 2013 market share report (the most recent available on its website), JPMorgan Chase Bank currently ranks fourth in the Syracuse metro area with a 7.31 percent share of total deposits through its 13 area branches. It’s behind M&T Bank (23.62 percent), Key Bank (18.24 percent), and First Niagara (7.37 percent).
“All of our competitors are fine competitors,” Dehmer says, however, Chase brings some considerable offerings to the table, namely its size and scale. Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking division of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and has $2.5 trillion in assets and locations in more than 60 countries. Chase has more than 5,600 branch offices and serves more than 4 million small businesses and 19,000 mid-sized businesses in 29 states.
It’s that local connection that sets Chase apart, Dehmer says. “We pride ourselves on being a big bank with a local touch.” That means decisions are made locally and service is provide locally. Chase’s opportunity and challenge is to bring that size and scale to the local customer, he says.
While he works to get acclimated to his new position, Dehmer will continue to oversee the New England market until his replacement is found.
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