Northern New York's Premier Business Monthly
Plans are moving forward for a small expansion at the Community Bank N.A. on Arsenal Street that will accommodate relocating employees of the former HSBC branch on the north side of the street when that office closes.
The city’s Planning Board approved a waiver for the site plan for the two small additions, totaling 1,050 square feet, at the Community Bank branch, 1125 Arsenal St., in the plaza where Raymour & Flanigan operates a store. [Read more...]
The former HSBC building in downtown Watertown is now owned by Community Bank.
With HSBC gone from the north country, the smaller banks that remain may not have enough capital to meet the demand of entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Observers say those seeking loans to launch startups could find themselves at a disadvantage, as the pool of applicants will be dominated by HSBC’s larger clients now doing business at local banks. This summer, five HSBC branches in the north country were taken over by Community Bank and four by First Niagara Bank.
“When the largest bank leaves the area, common sense says to me it’s going to be much more difficult for startups to find funding,” said F. Eric Constance, regional director of the Small Business Development Center in Watertown, which helps startups develop business plans in Jefferson, Lewis and Oswego counties. “It makes it that much more difficult to find loans.”
Of the roughly 800 clients the center works with during a typical year, about 65 percent are small startups. Only about 15 percent of the nonprofit’s clients successfully obtain loans.
Some north country government officials are going bank shopping.
Municipalities in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties that have done business with HSBC — which is having 19 of its branches in Northern New York taken over by Community Bank in May — won’t be able to have their accounts automatically transferred to Community.