Changing of the guard at Aspen branch of Community Banks
Aspen, CO Colorado
ALL |
ASPEN ” The old guard of a local bank is handing the reigns over to a new generation.
Kurt Adam, Community Banks of Colorado regional president, and Howie Mallory, executive vice president of the bank’s Aspen branch, who together bring 70 years of banking experience to Aspen, are placing the bank’s daily operations into the hands of Adam Fortier.
Adam and Mallory started the Aspen branch in 1998, along with vice president Karla Bacsanyi.
Fortier joined Community Banks of Colorado Aspen in July 2006, serving as the vice president of commercial lending. In his new position as senior vice president of operations, he will oversee the daily business of the bank. Fortier comes to the position with 11 years of prior banking experience.
Fortier is active in the Aspen community, serving as secretary on the board of the Rotary Club of Aspen. He also is a member of the Aspen Young Professionals Association and recently became a member of the nominating committee for the Aspen Chamber Resort Association.
“I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to build upon the wonderful organization that Howie and Kurt have created,” Fortier said. “During these economic times, it will be a challenge for a small bank such as ours, but I firmly believe that we are poised for great achievements.”
Mallory said Fortier’s close connection to the community mirrors the bank’s commitment to local nonprofit organizations.
Together, Mallory, Adam and Bacsanyi founded Community Banks of Colorado (CBC) Aspen in 1998; then oversaw the bank’s expansion into Basalt, Glenwood Springs, Rifle, Eagle, Avon and Edwards over the next 10 years. During those 10 years, the seven branches went from zero to 15 percent of revenue for the 42-branch network of Community Banks of Colorado.
Adam and Mallory have helped residents in Woody Creek, Lazy Glen and Aspen Village buy the land under their homes, creating affordable housing in the Roaring Fork Valley.
The bank’s Community Touch program helps local non-profits market themselves and tell their stories. The bank recognizes a different organization each month as its “Community Touch Partner.”
Another outreach program the bank sponsors is the CBC Scholarship Program, which provides four years of tuition to six Colorado residents each year ” three full scholarships and three partial scholarships.
Adam will still be headquartered in Aspen and remain closely involved with the Aspen branch, but will assume new responsibilities in the company-wide lending. Mallory is moving on to work with microcredit banking and plans to travel.
Mallory began banking in Aspen in 1974, after a tour in the U.S. Navy. He originally worked for First National Bank, which became US Bank, and then moved on to Pitkin County Bank and Trust, which later became Vectra Bank.
Adam began his banking career in Wisconsin in 1972. He moved to Aspen in 1983 to work as president of the Bank of Aspen.
Community Banks of Colorado was founded in 1994 with nine locations in eastern and southern Colorado. The assets have risen from $182 million to nearly $2 billion in the past 14 years.
CBC offers 42 branch locations in Colorado and California. As the Aspen branch celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, two additional outlets are scheduled to open in the Denver area.
