2 THE QUEENS COURIER • QUEENS BUSINESS • APRIL 13, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Inside the new Park Slope branch of Dime Community Bank. Plaza in downtown Brooklyn, having sold the beautiful old bank building for a hefty sum. However, while regretting the move from its decades-old center of operations – “We have a lot of loyalty to neighborhood,” Mahon stressed – bank executives also feel that, by being in Brooklyn’s business heart, it will provide new opportunities. “I think the ability to attract more talent is going to be aided by being in transportation hub,” said Mahon. In addition, Dime recently piloted a loan program to benefit smaller businesses, which, oftentimes, have trouble getting financing, something that, said Brown, “was getting in the way of them expanding their businesses.” Through the program, which provides a line of credit, the businesses that were involved – many of them young and looking to for financing between $20,000 and $100,000 – were able to get the capital they needed. “It was very successful and we’re looking how to make it more scalable and available to more of our clients going forward,” Brown added. Dime will soon be involved in making loans through the federal Small Business Administration, noted Lubow, which “provides small businesses with more underwriting flexibility, and makes credit available to businesses that might have different needs and whose credit is not quite where it needs to be.” The expansion of Dime’s loan business is in part reliant on the bank’s The interior of the new Dime Community Bank on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg. online capabilities. But, it is also dependent on the interpersonal relationships that the bankers have developed with their business customers. According to Lubow, “While the bank’s “digital capabilities make the physical locations less important, it’s the relationships that still drive the business. So, our relationship bankers and our retail bankers are the key to the growth we are going to see.” This is particularly a boon, all said, for smaller businesses since, at Dime, bankers at the branch frequently know your name, your business and your needs. “We’re customer-centric,” Lubow stressed. “The services we can provide and the turnaround we can provide are second to none. The big banks are our largest competition and the customers we’re talking about – small to medium size businesses looking for loans up to $25 million – get lost in the big banks. With Dime, loans are written locally. Decisions are made right here. They have access to senior management, executive management. They’re important to our future and they’re treated as such. It’s why they come back to us or stay with us.” And, all said, that is a key to Dime’s appeal to both retail and commercial customers, enhanced now by a renewed focus on technology. “This is the new Dime you’re coming into,” Mahon declared. “We are keeping the best of what we had while knowing there are always improvements to be made.”
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