SYRACUSE — With some changes at the management level along with two new commercial-banking employees, JPMorgan Chase & Co. is poised to grow its middle-market business across the Central New York and Northern Central Pennsylvania region. On Jan. 1, JPMorgan Chase promoted Malcolm (Sandy) Wolcott from president of the upstate New York middle-market banking team […]
SYRACUSE — With some changes at the management level along with two new commercial-banking employees, JPMorgan Chase & Co. is poised to grow its middle-market business across the Central New York and Northern Central Pennsylvania region.
On Jan. 1, JPMorgan Chase promoted Malcolm (Sandy) Wolcott from president of the upstate New York middle-market banking team to chairman of the Northeast middle market, a region spanning from Maine to South Carolina. At the same time, Robert Ryan, already serving as president of the Rochester and Buffalo middle-market regions, began serving as president of the Syracuse region as well. JPMorgan Chase defines its middle-market customers as businesses with annual revenue exceeding $20 million.
JPMorgan Chase also added two new commercial bankers to its roster. Gary Guariglia previous served as a middle-market portfolio manager at RBS Citizens Bank in Syracuse, before joining JPMorgan Chase to help the company grow its middle-market business from its Syracuse office. John Huhtala joined the Syracuse office after previous working for JPMorgan’s metro New York middle-market team.
The new employees join a staff of about 300 JPMorgan Chase employees across Central New York, many of which are based in Syracuse where the banking company has an office on Plum Street. JPMorgan Chase operates 13 branch offices in the Syracuse metro area.
The decision to fully staff the Syracuse market was a conscious one, says Ryan, made because JPMorgan Chase has already experienced growth in the market and is poised for even more.
“We are doing very well year-to-date,” he says. The company has produced growth from both existing clients as well as from landing a number of new clients, he notes.
It is those new clients that truly show JPMorgan’s potential for growth, he says, because those clients came for specific services and expertise that JPMorgan Chase offers.
In one case, a client — a large retailer Ryan declined to name — was looking for a bank with expertise in employee stock-ownership plans. Another new client needed a bank that could serve its international needs, Ryan says. JPMorgan Chase is able to meet those needs with both U.S.–based employees that have expertise in serving various areas around the globe as well as foreign–based employees in one of 16 offices around the world dedicated to serving U.S.–based middle-market clients.
JPMorgan Chase is in talks with another potential new client that has grown frustrated with the delayed services provided by its out-of-state bank — something that highlights another of JPMorgan’s advantages in the market, Ryan says.
The company focuses on providing clients with local banking representatives, local customer service, and local decision-making, he says. All of those factors help JPMorgan Chase build long-term relationships with its clients, he adds.
JPMorgan Chase further emphasizes the importance of community relationships by being an active member of the community, says Wolcott. Whether it is contributing $30 million toward Syracuse University’s technology center or hosting 7,500 runners plus another 12,000 or so spectators and supporters for the upcoming Corporate Challenge 3.5 mile race at Onondaga Lake Park on June 18, the goal is to be involved, Wolcott says. “We’re not just banking,” he says “We want to give back.”
The formula has been a winning one for JPMorgan Chase so far, Wolcott says, and he hopes to see that continue through 2013 for the Syracuse office, particularly as the economy shows continued signs of recovery.
JPMorgan Chase can capitalize on that recovery by offering additional services to existing clients, such as assistance with real estate, mergers and acquisitions, or IPOs, as well as by gaining new clients, Wolcott says.
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPG) is a New York City–based global financial-services firm with total assets of about $2.4 trillion. The firm’s services include asset management, investment banking, private banking, commercial banking, and treasury and securities services.
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