MonumentNews
Your Quarterly Newsletter from Monument Bank
Summer Issue July 2010
Letter from the President
A Look Inside the
eBanking Department
The eBanking staff begins each day by checking
incoming emails and faxes from bank customers
and employees that arrived since the end of the
previous workday. This two-person department,
comprised of Aashish Ponniah and Teresa Avant,
is responsible for the implementation and servicing of the Bank’s Convenience Banking services.
The team is also the resource for general customer service, research requests and requests for
information on additional services. Their day is
filled with assisting and educating customers, processing transactions and implementing services
for new and existing clients.
Our Convenience Banking services include online
banking and bill pay for businesses and consumers, Live Wire Notification and Express Deposit. Online banking and bill pay have become familiar
services, growing rapidly in their use since the
concept first began in the late 1980’s. In fact, it is
possible to conduct virtually all of one’s financial
transactions online. Not as commonplace yet is
Live Wire Notification and Express Deposit, two services that the Bank’s eBanking Department also
implement and support. Express Deposit enables
business customers, using a small desk-top scanner, to deposit checks directly into their
Dear Friends,
As we complete the first six months of 2010 and the first
several months of recovery, we continue to be optimistic about
the near-term. My colleagues at other locally-based banks are
feeling better about the future, much more so now than at this
time last year. Expectations about the impact of defaults under
commercial mortgage-backed securities have not yet materialized and talk about the “double-dip” has recently lessened, at
least within the circles I travel. As a result of the sheer volume
and speed of information that bombards us from hundreds of
sources, it is bothersome to realize that we can actually think
ourselves into a second dip. However, at Monument Bank, we like to plan for success rather
than dwell too much upon factors we cannot control.
The Bank has fared well in the first half of the year as total assets grew to $277 million from
$232 million compared to June 30, 2009, an increase of 19%. In the same period, loans grew to
$198 million from $167 million, also an increase of 19% while deposits and repurchase agreements grew to $229 million from $185 million, an increase of 24%. After-tax profit for the first
six months of the year totaled $695 thousand compared to $499 thousand for the same period
last year, an increase of 39%. A solid continuation of the way we started the year 2010!
Our Silver Spring branch opened on May 26th and already has deposits of $13 million. The
SBA program continues to show progress, so much so that we have recruited Ron Warrick to
give it full-time attention. By July 31st we expect to have the operations of our new residential
mortgage department running smoothly so we can turn our efforts to developing the volume
that we believe will be a significant contributor to the Bank’s profitability.
Referrals and introductions continue to be the fuels that run our engine. Please keep them
coming and know that your friends, family or business associates will receive the special attention that will make you glad you referred them to us. And, as always, feel free to call me or any
of my staff if we can assist you in any way.
(continued on page 4)
In this issue
Escrow Manager Saves Money
2
Celebrating Good Works
3
Five Tips from SCORE
3
Your Direct Line to Service
4
H. L.Ward
President & CEO
1
Your Quarterly Newsletter from Monument Bank
Second Branch Opens
in Silver Spring
Escrow Manager Can
Increase Your Bottom Line
The saying goes that time is money. What if you could use a service that greatly
reduces the administrative burden and associated personnel costs of managing
multiple (maybe hundreds) checking accounts? Meet Escrow Manager. Every
day law firms, title companies, property managers and municipalities are faced
with making decisions on how to streamline operations. Just as time is money,
improved technology can improve profitability. Escrow Manager enables you
to efficiently record account data, accelerate account processing and accurately
report account performance. This is how it works:
You deposit all funds into a single Escrow Fund Manager Checking Account at
Monument Bank, thereby eliminating the need for your company staff to maintain individual checking accounts for each client. A sub-account is established
for each escrow relationship and there is no limit to the number of sub-accounts
you can create under the master account. Each sub-account receives a monthly
statement and is separately FDIC-insured. At year-end, the Bank produces a 1099
for each sub-account.
One of our customers, Steven Landsman, President of Abaris Realty, was so
pleased with how Escrow Manager helped his staff manage hundreds of individual accounts, he wrote a testimonial for our ad campaign that you can see in
the Montgomery Business Gazette and Washington Business Journal!
While Larry Bolton and Debbie Keller are busy calling on customers and prospects outside the office,
Mardi Novik and Heather Ellis take care of business
at Monument Bank’s new branch that opened on May
26th in Silver Spring. Newly-hired Mardi is a career
banker who brings many years of experience to her
title of Assistant Vice Presient. Heather, the Branch
Representative, was already an employee of the Bank
who worked at the Main Office in Bethesda. This
team of four bankers represents 98 years of combined banking experience. Larry “The Banker” and
Debbie “The Banker” alone contribute 65 years to
that number. . . .most of which has been in the Silver
Spring area.
Ike Leggett was the guest of honor for the branch’s
grand opening ribbon cutting held on July 20th. Enthusiastic guests joined in the celebration with great
food, beverage, camaraderie and a door prize drawing
for a Bentley for a weekend. The Bentley was donated by EuroMotor Cars. Refreshments were provided
by The Bean Bag.
The branch is located at 8602 Colesville Road. Hours
are Monday through Thursday from 8:30 until 3:00
and Friday from 8:30 until 5:00 pm. Come visit us
soon!
Left: Steve Landsman
gave testimonial about
the convenience of the
Bank’s Escrow Manager.
Whether you have 10 or 10s of hundreds of
accounts to manage, ask us about how
Escrow Manager can save you time and money.
2
Above: Surrounded by Bank staff and local dignataries, guest of honor Ike Leggett cuts the red ribbon
to celebrate the opening of Monument Bank’s second
branch office. Photo: www.clarkwdayphoto.com
www.monumentbank.com
Summer Edition July 2010
Celebrating Good Works
Director Walks 39 Miles for a Good Cause
For two days in May 2010, Monument Bank Director Larry Rosenblum put his walking
where his mouth was and raised $12,500 for a good cause in the process. Why? When
Larry learned in 2000 that the Avon Foundation was planning its first Washington Area
Breast Cancer Walk, he immediately thought of one of his favorite relatives. In 1982, his
cousin Hayda was diagnosed with breast cancer and unfortunately lost her battle a few
years later at the age of 37.
Always wanting to remember her in a special way, Larry decided to walk the walk in her
memory and help make a difference. For the eleventh year, he participated in the Avon
Walk for Breast Cancer, one of approximately only 150 men out of 3,000 walkers. For the
last two years, he has walked with his sweetheart, Nancy Brooks. Since Larry started walking 11 years ago, he has raised over $80,000 for this cause and despite this down economy,
2010 was his best year ever. For more information about the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer,
look for Larry’s page at www.avonwalk.org or go to www.inittoendit.org.
Left: Larry Rosenblum stands next to
tent commemorating his cousin, Hayda,
who died of breast cancer. He has already
signed up for the 2011 walk.
Five Tips for Getting Noticed Online
1. Get your Web site listed on major search engines, such as Google or Yahoo! Two sites,
Search Engine Watch at www.searchenginewatch.com and the Web Marketing Info Center
at www.wilsonweb.com/webmarket, offer guidance.
Markiewicz Supports
American University Win
Matthew Markiewicz, a Monument Bank
commercial lender, was one of seven professionals from local companies who mentored the winning team for NAIOP’s first
annual 2010 Capital Challenge Intercollegiate Real Estate Case Competition. Three
area universities who have graduate real estate programs - Georgetown, University of
Maryland and American University - participated in the competition to complete a case
study of an actual development site in the
greater Washington, D.C. region.
Matthew, as the financial mentor who assisted with the loan underwriting portion
of the case study, joined forces with professionals from six other industries to support a
team of graduate students from the Kogod
School of Business at American University.
The case study site is located at the intersection of North Capitol Street and New York
Avenue NE, a heavily traveled corridor in
the area known as NoMa. The assignment
was to formulate a long term development
and investment strategy as well as the appropriate uses for the 236,000 square foot
site. To learn about NAIOP go to www.
naiop.com.
CSAAC is Beneficiary
of Golf Tournament
2. Join a “banner exchange,” and trade advertising banners with other web sites. Look
under “banner exchange” on search engines.
3. Visit sites similar to or related to yours and offer to exchange links with them.
4. Write useful articles for other sites and include your web address.
5. Get more online marketing help from such sites as www.zdnet.com/eweek/, workz.
com and www.bcentral.com.
The source of this article is SCORE, a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). If you own your own business and haven’t visited their site at www.
score.org, you are missing out on an excellent resource. Not only do they have an exhaustive list of FREE services, but the site has been developed by skilled, retired businesspeople who have experienced the challenges of starting, growing and exiting a business.
www.monumentbank.com
Above: For the fourth consecutive year, Monument Bank was Title Sponsor for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase annual golf tournament. Inset: H.L. Ward and Ayda Sanver, representing
CSAAC (Community Services for Autistic Adults
and Children), this year’s beneficiary. Photo by
Eric Myers.
3
Summer Edition July 2010
Your Direct Line to Service
MANAGEMENT
H. L. Ward
President & CEO
Karen Grau
EVP & CFO
Loren Geisler
EVP & CLO
Tracy Berriman EVP & COO
Lena Marcellino
Corp. Secretary &
Investor Relations
301.841.9555
hlward@monumentbank.com
301.841.9595
kgrau@monumentbank.com
301.841.9510
lgeisler@monumentbank.com
301.841.9541
tberriman@monumentbank.com
301.841.9551
lmarcellino@monumentbank.com
BETHESDA BRANCH 301.841.9700
Yee Yee Tun
Branch Manager
Margaret Ladd
Asst. Branch Manager
301.841.9530
ytun@monumentbank.com
301.841.9531
mladd@monumentbank.com
Your Quarterly Newsletter from Monument Bank
A Look Inside the
eBanking Department
(contd. from pg. 1)
Monument Bank account that can be credited up to 6:00 pm
on the same day. Live Wire Notification offers up-to-the minute, automatic notification of incoming and outgoing wires
to both businesses and consumers, even after bank business
hours.
The first quarter of 2011 will bring improved services to our
Convenience Banking package. Watch for more details that
will follow.
SILVER SPRING BRANCH
Larry “The Banker” Bolton
Senior Vice President
Debbie Keller
Vice President & Branch Mgr.
Mardi Novik
Assistant Vice President
eBANKING
Main number
Aashish Ponniah
eBanking Manager
Teresa Avent
eBanking Specialist
301.841.9576
lbolton@monumentbank.com
301.841.9577
dkeller@monumentbank.com
301.841.9578
mnovik@monumentbank.com
ebanking@monumentbank.com
301.841.9521
301.841.9524
aponniah@monumentbank.com
301.841.9522
tavent@monumentbank.com
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Patrick van der Ham
Senior Vice President
Debbie Colliton
Senior Vice President
Clyde Garrett II
Vice President
301.841.9526
pvanderham@monumentbank.com
301.841.9563
dcolliton@monumentbank.com
301.841.9564
cgarrett@monumentbank.com
CONSUMER LENDING
Harvey Dickerson
Vice President
301.841.9511
hdickerson@monumentbank.com
COMMERCIAL LENDING
Steven Brunn
Senior Vice President
Ted Coleman
Senior Vice President
Matthew Markiewicz
Vice President
301.841.9512
sbrunn@monumentbank.com
301.841.9515
tcoleman@monumentbank.com
301.841.9516
mmarkiewicz@monumentbank.com
RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LENDING
Clark Goldstein
Vice President
Allan Bernstein
Assistant Vice President
Dan Caplan
Sr. Mortgage Consultant
George Matthews Sr. Mortgage Consultant
4
301.841.9582
cgoldstein@monumentbank.com
301.841.9584
abernstein@monumentbank.com
301.841.9583
dcaplan@monumentbank.com
301.841.9587
gmatthews@monumentbank.com
Did you know. . . .
That since Monument Bank started its SBA lending program less than a year ago, it has made five
loans totaling $2,662,000 to small businesses? For
more information on our SBA loan programs, including 7(a) and 504 loans, contact Ron Warrick at
301.841.9518 or rwarrick@monumentbank.com.
www.monumentbank.com