Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 11

111 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 11 100 turkeys to be distributed to those in need, and more recently Columbia took part in a golf tournament to raise funds for the Oasis Organization, a group which supports women and children. “We talk a lot about being a caring organization,” Kemly relays, “We try to define that as caring for our employees, caring for our customers, and caring for our communities. And now we’re public, so, we care about our shareholders. Really, all the decisions we make keep that basic premise in mind, making sure our decisions demonstrate we care about each of those four constituencies.” Looking ahead, Kemly anticipates a continued growth in commercial products and services in the coming years. He also expects to see Columbia Bank expand throughout New Jersey, as well as the metropolitan New York, Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania areas, creating a need to hire more community bankers. Technology upgrades will be a priority as the bank moves into the future. He shares, “As we get bigger, we do think maintaining the presence and the philosophy of being a local community bank is important. We are going to stay connected to our clients, connected to our communities, while we add technology and other features that people want.” Lewis notes, “We will continue to actively recruit additional lenders, we will continue to approach our New Jersey market aggressively both on small business and middle market, and on the investment real estate portfolio sides.” Mateo adds her thoughts, “We won’t forget those in need. We will continue to help the low and moderate income communities and individuals, as we keep growing and expanding our products and services.” A LAW FIRM FOR WHAT MATTERS MOST NEWARK | NEW YORK | PHILADELPHIA 973 757 1100 | WALSH.LAW OUR ATTORNEYS HAVE A COMBINED 150+ YEARS OF LEGAL EXPERIENCE. With decades of experience in litigation, compliance and transactional matters, Walsh is comprised of 28 dedicated, forward-thinking professionals. The practice spans a wide range of areas including business and commercial litigation, intellectual property and trade secret protection, class action defense, financial services and risk management with a focus on insolvency & creditors' rights, labor and employment, internal investigations, cyber security and data protection, alternative dispute resolution and transactional work. COLUMB I A BANK