26 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • APRIL 2018
KEVIN O’CONNOR:
CEO Job Offer Came as Surprise
By WARREN STRUGATCH
Kevin O’Connor became president
and chief executive of Bridge Bancorp
and its subsidiary Bridgehampton
National Bank, now BNB Bank,
in January 2008 after 20 years at
North Fork Bank, where he rose to
become treasurer. A Brooklyn native,
O’Connor moved to Farmingville
with his family and attended school
there. After getting his associate’s
degree at Suffolk County Community
College, he completed his bachelor’s
degree in Accounting from Adelphi
University. He is a past president
and advisory board member of
Suffolk County Council of the Boy
Scouts of America and serves on the
American Red Cross’ Long Island
Board of Directors. He has three sons
and resides in Great River. Here are
excerpts of our conversation:
Warren Strugatch: Our parents are
our first influencers. How did yours
influence you?
Kevin O’Connor: My father, Jack,
was a New York City cop. My mother,
Carole, stayed home. We lived in
Brooklyn and Queens, then moved
to Suffolk. When I was in high
school I had a landscaping business
and worked at Genovese Drugs.
When I worked at Genovese, my dad
would take my truck on his days off
and take the kids working for me
out to mow lawns. When I was in
college, I thought of dropping out
to chase the easier dollar. We fought
many times during college to keep
me from giving up. I’m glad he won
those arguments, although I’m sorry
he didn’t live to see me graduate.
WS: What did those jobs teach you?
KO: I learned about scheduling,
dealing with customers, and
managing people. I learned that if you
committed yourself to do something
for somebody you had to get it done
regardless of the weather, your truck
breaking down or someone not
showing up for work.
WS: What did you learn from your
supervisors?
KO: At Genovese Drugs, the store
manager was Larry Onufrak. He
saw early on that I could be a shift
supervisor. Frank Del’Aglio was a
senior manager at Pete Marwick,
now KPMG, when I worked there
right out of college. He went to
North Fork in 1987 and became
CFO under John Kanas. I joined
him and that’s where I spent the
next 20 years.
WS: John Kanas is a banking
legend. What was he like to work
with?
KO: John was very inspirational.
You were really part of a team. He
had a vision. He was going to get
there and you would follow him
because you wanted to be where he
was. He was demanding but fair.
John allowed you to take chances
and make mistakes. He was as
respectful to entry-level employees
as he was to the most senior. Many
of the things I deal with today I
first dealt with at North Fork.
WS: Long Island banking has
changed enormously over the past
generation.
KO: It has. We don’t have the
Grummans and Fairchilds
here anymore, but there is still
manufacturing and distribution. The
guys here now may not make the whole
plane but they make the forward struts
or pieces of the nose cone. Those are
the kind of companies we bank.
WS: How were you hired at BNB?
KO: After Capital One acquired
North Fork in 2006 my services were
no longer needed. I interviewed at a few
banks and one was Bridgehampton. I
interviewed for the CFO position. Tom
(Tobin), the CEO, was looking to retire.
Instead of offering me the CFO position
he offered me the CEO position. I was
scared out of my mind!
WS: What did you do?
KO: First I wished my father were
here to talk with. Then I thought
about 30 seconds and said yes.
WS: You’ve expanded the bank
enormously. How?
KO: Probably two-thirds of our
growth has been organic. That
means hiring talented bankers.
When I go to visit potential
customers, I don’t ask who their
bank is, I ask who their banker is.
If they don’t know, fine, that’s an
opportunity. If they do know and
like that person I try to go meet
them and see if they’re happy where
they are. We aggressively pursue
good bankers to hire and build
businesses around them.
Warren Strugatch is a partner
with Inflection Point Associates
(InflectionPointAssoc.com), a
consulting firm in Stony Brook.
Contact him at Warren@
InflectionPointAssoc.com
BNB Bank
Founded: 1910
Headquarters:
Bridgehampton
Assets: App. $4.3B
Branches: 44 serving Long
Island and greater New York
metropolitan area
Ranking: Among Top 3 New
York community banks
– American Banker
Kevin O’Connor has been CEO of BNB for a decade.
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