Ellison opens bank in Westminster

Westminster Window

By Nissa LaPoint

When customers walk into Mountain View Bank of Commerce in Westminster, they won't find bank teller lines or separate service departments.

Instead, they'll find a few smiling bank employees ready to help them with any service at their new cherry wood desks.

The president and CEO of the bank, Andy Ellison, will even come out of his office to greet customers and enthusiastically shake their hand.

The full-service community bank, which will specialize in small- and medium-sized business and commercial real estate loans, is located at 12365 Huron St.

The bank - officially open on Feb. 8 - touts its atypical layout and localized business model tailored to emphasize relationships with customers.

"It's a lot more personable," said customer and investor Scott Nordby, president of Innovative Real Estate. "I feel like they treat every single person coming in as a human being."

Mountain View Bank of Commerce received start-up and operating system assistance from Capitol Bancorp Limited (NYSE:CBC), its holding company.

Headquartered in both Lansing, Mich. and Phoenix, Ariz., the company establishes a business model that makes all banks run under its own charter. This means that each community bank is fully controlled by an autonomous local board of directors and managed by an on-site president, according to CBC.

Each bank is also invested in by local shareholders and is restricted from branching out.

Because of this business model, the bank bypassed the typical layout of its competitors, such as bank teller lines, and separate departments within the bank run by different employees to help customers, Ellison said.

The bank replaced this with a philosophy of one-stop personalized customer service, according to Ellison.

"Time wise, you can go in and talk to one person," said Steve Faillaci, vice president of the bank. "(Customers) don't need to be shipped from department to department. They just get the answers they need (in one place)."

Ellison said the purpose of the layout and operation of the bank is to really get to know their customers and provide them with all the services they need from one employee.

He said he always felt like a cow at corporate banks, being herded from one line to another and not being treated like a respected customer.

Each employee at the bank is trained to help customers with a range of services, including deposits and withdrawals, loans, credit, and more, he said. The bank is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

All of the decisions made for the bank, whether on loans, credit or other product decisions, are made at the bank. He said this is important to the success of the bank, because he believes that "the closer the decisions are to the client, the better the decisions will be."

Nordby said he decided to invest in the bank because he thought it made sense for the board to make all of its decisions on location.

The bank's eight-member board, including Ellison, meets at the bank in Westminster. Gerard Nalezny, CEO of Mountain View's sister bank, Fort Collins Commerce Bank; Joseph Reid, Chairman and CEO of Capitol Bancorp Limited; Michelle Welsh, American Family Insurce, Michelle Welsh Agency; and Ron Faillaci, entrepreneur and investor are among some of the board members.

Banking experience

Andy Ellison, on the board of directors for the Metro North Chamber of Commerce, said he has been in banking for most of his life.

At the age of 10, his father, John Ellison, borrowed money from his college fund to purchase a residential property. He said his father jokes that this was the beginning of this banking career.

After that he had several jobs including one at NBD Bank, now owned by Bank One, as a credit analyst. He also worked at Key Bank for six years and later at Community First Bank, now owned by Bank of the West. He was the market president and regional manager for Bank of the West at it's Thornton branch at 120th Avenue and Washington Street.

But it was at NBD Bank that it first occurred to Ellison that he wanted to be the CEO of a bank.

In 1995, he met NBD Bank's CEO and was impressed with his kindness and self-assurance.

"I was an impressionable credit analyst," Ellison said. "It became quickly apparent to me that the real fun in banking and the best way to make change was at that level - a CEO of a bank."

In December 2006, Ellison left Bank of the West and asked some of his co-workers, including Steve Faillaci, Leslie Spence and Jennifer Maes, to come with him to start a new bank.

All seven employees of the bank's employees said they didn't hesitate when Ellison asked them on board.

"I've worked with him for a long time," said Jennifer Maes, the operation officer at the bank. "He's not only a great business man, but he personally cares about his employees."

Maes also said that she likes how he answers the phone at the bank himself, always no later than the second ring. She said he also often comes out of his office to greet any customers walking in, to welcome them and shake their hand. Most bank presidents' stay in their office in the back of bank, she said.

Lauren Bowser, a customer service representative for the bank, said she enjoys working there.

"I am impressed with his energy," Bowser said. "He makes you excited to work for him."

Ellison said he enjoys his work and being able to help others and watch their business grow.

"A lot of times people come in with their dreams in their hands," Ellison said. "We get to help them with that. One of the things I love most is watching people grow and expand their wings."

More information about Mountain View Bank of Commerce can be found at www.mvbofc.com