for breaking news visit www.qns.com OCTOBER 27, 2016 • buzz • The QUENS CourieR 61 Success profile: Banker Leonard Stekol From emigrating with his family from Latvia in 1979, to his position today as the president of Ridgewood Savings Bank, Leonard Stekol is living a dream. “This is the greatest country in the world,” he said, as the recently elevated president who has been with the 95-year-old Bank for 23 years. His elevation to president and COO in July was a journey of hard work from a trainee in the audit department to his current position. As the largest mutual savings Bank in New York State with $5.3 billion in assets, Ridgewood Savings Bank is “owned” by its depositors and has always been rooted in the communities it serves. With branches across the New York metropolitan area and with 55,000 free ATMs available nationwide to its customers, the Bank’s footprint continues to grow. There are 10 branches in Queens, including the corporate office in Ridgewood, where the bank was born in 1921 in a converted taproom located at the intersection of Myrtle and Forest Avenues. The 14 founders personally handed out flyers to encourage neighbors to put their money in what started as the Savings Bank of Ridgewood. The cornerstone for their new headquarters, now a historic building, was laid in the bank’s original location in 1929 when the name was changed to Ridgewood Savings Bank. When the Great Depression came, the bank weathered the storm. Where many banks failed, it survived based on their unique relationship with the people they served. I love the bank’s motto, “Multiply the Good.” Just this past weekend, the bank opened its parking lot for a Fall Festival, entertaining the neighborhood Victoria’s Secrets Victoria SCHNEPS-YUNIS vschneps@gmail.com tweet me @vschneps children with various games and face painting, and giving away pumpkins. The bank’s list of support for civic, educational and philanthropic organizations fills pages in its annual Statement of Condition. It’s obvious the bank believes in the communities it serves, and its customers have enabled it to grow into 34 branches in Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, which includes a Mobile Bank branch serving assisted living centers and visiting elementary schools to further promote the bank’s “Teach Children to Save” program. As a graduate of Queens College and a CPA, Leonard Stekol will strive to work with the management and the board, continuing to move the bank forward with new branches and services. He believes in the bank’s motto emphasizing the power of what can happen when you “multiply the good.” The future of his leadership and accomplishments speaks volumes about the power of the United States offering opportunities to people like Leonard Stekol – a man who came from another country and is making a positive impact for his family and the community. Dynamic $1500 off Lumineers $500 off Invisalign DENTAL WORK CALL FOR FREE CONSULTATION THE INVISIBLE WAY TO SOME EXCLUSIONS APPLY STRAIGHTEN TEETH Third Generation Dentist 175-15 Jamaica avenue, Jamaica 718-297-4100 • 718-297-4106 This small store at the corner of Myrtle and Forest avenues was the first location of the bank in 1921 Ridgewood Savings Bank president, Leonard Stekol at his executive ofiice The cornerstone for their new headquarters was laid in the bank’s original location in 1929 when the name was changed to Ridgewood Savings Bank
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