Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 11

100 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 11 S ince 1927 Columbia Bank has been a trusted community bank, with its beginnings as a Building and Loan in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. “If you think about the holiday movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, the main character of that was a banker in a building and loan in a local community – That’s our origin,” describes Columbia Bank President Thomas Kemly. Following that, the bank became a mutual organization, serving New Jersey residents through savings, loans, and mortgages, and eventually commercial products. Today, Columbia is a community bank with 61 branches, operating in 12 counties throughout New Jersey. Kemly recounts, “In April 2018, we made the decision to issue stock. We issued 47% of the potential stock of the company, which makes us a minority mutual holding company. We are now a public company, and it has put us on a growth pattern. When we made that decision we were almost $5 billion in total assets, and since then we’ve been growing. We sit today at about $9.3 billion in total assets. We’ve nearly doubled the company and continued to maintain our focus as a community bank.” Acquisitions have been part of the recent growth, with Columbia Bank acquiring Atlantic Stewardship bank in 2019 and Roselle Bank in 2020. “We just recently announced another transaction that we hope to complete before the end of the year,” says Kemly. “It’s a combination with Freehold Bank. So, we’ve grown organically, but we’ve also had a great opportunity to add three AT A GLANCE COLUMBIA BANK WHAT: A thriving community bank with 61 branches in 12 counties WHERE: Headquarters in North Fair Lawn, New Jersey WEBSITE: www.columbiabankonline.com ank Better Community Banking Starts Here