In an era of intense competition for customers, businesses that take ethical or legal shortcuts will end up turning away the customers they’re trying to attract, Frank Techar, president and chief executive officer of Harris Bank, told Chicago business leaders Thursday.
People won’t do their banking, or any other kind of business, with an organization they don’t trust, Techar said during a speech at the Executives’ Club of Chicago.
Good corporate governance is “increasingly a tool that allows companies and their leaders to gain a competitive edge and move their business forward,” Techar said.
Investors have become savvier, and in the wake of Enron Corp. and other scandals they are demanding that corporate chiefs ensure their companies meet certain standards of behavior, he said.
“The message to business leaders is clear: Pay attention or pay the price, which means less interest from investors and a higher cost of capital,” Techar said.
Responding to questions after his speech, Techar said he is not adjusting Harris’ business plan to respond to newcomers to the market, such as Washington Mutual Inc.
“We think our business model, our focus on our communities and our brand is going to serve us well,” he said.
“What I like to tell our employees is Washington Mutual is spending tens of millions of dollars on advertising and promotion in this marketplace, and they’re doing it for a reason–because they don’t have what we have.”
Harris has about 9 percent of the deposits in the metropolitan area, according to data collected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Artistic focus: When people in Naperville think of his bank, First National Bank of Naperville President Brian Schulz wants them to think about the arts.
Schulz is pushing an arts focus for his bank, which has a building under construction on Naperville’s West Side. While technically a branch of the First National Bank of Brookfield, the Naperville office is being marketed like a separate institution.
The bank has a three-year commitment to be a presenting sponsor of the Naperville Art League’s Riverwalk Art Fair. The league will also be exhibiting works in the new bank’s offices, and the bank commissioned a painting of Naperville by artist Mark McMahon that hangs in its offices.
Schulz, whose grandfather founded the Brookfield bank in 1961, said he is looking for other opportunities for his bank to get involved in Naperville’s art scene.
“We’re looking at how we want to market the bank and what fits with our style,” Schulz said. “High-quality art and quality go hand in hand.”
Acquisition finalized: MidAmerica Bank’s name will be seen in Milwaukee, thanks to the completion of MAF Bancorp Inc.’s purchase of St. Francis Capital Corp.
MAF will use the name “St. Francis Bank, a division of MidAmerica Bank” at the St. Francis locations “for the foreseeable future,” according to MAF Bancorp.
The sale was announced in May but was approved last week by the shareholders of the two banks. Based on the Dec. 1 stock price of MAF Bancorp, the sale was valued at $357.7 million, according to the bank.
There are 23 St. Francis Bank locations in the Milwaukee area. That gives Clarendon Hills-based MAF Bancorp 66 retail banking offices.
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