SALVATION ARMY OF GREATER KEARNY honors ROBERT MOONEY AT ANNUAL DINNER

Photo, Schuyler Savings Bank Photo Schuyler Savings Bank, founded in 1924, today is lead by its Board of Directors (from left to right): George Moroses, Laurence Mach, President George Halski, Chairman of the Board Robert Mooney, Bruce Kauffmann, Vice President James Cummings, and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Alberto Alemany.

KEARNY (May 28, 2009) — While time runs out for one financial giant after another as high-risk business models collapse, the stately clock standing in front of Schuyler Savings Bank in Kearny ticks with a cadence of time-tested principles: a conservative philosophy, prudent fiscal management, a focus on customers and service to the community.

The bank has undergone a complete renovation, inside and out, reflecting its roots in tradition and its forward-looking management. Even the bank’s logo has undergone a change: The clock on the logo matches the clock outside and symbolizes the bank’s time-tested values. In the more than 80 years that Schuyler Savings Bank has existed, it has taken the time to get to know generations of customers and help grow the community through protected deposits, home loans and charitable support, while also keeping pace with current technologies and services.

This formula has seen the community bank through depression, recession, war and worry since its founding in 1924. It has also enabled Schuyler Savings Bank to receive the prized Bauer Financial Five-Star Rating of Superior — its top award based on a broad array of financial criteria — for 15 consecutive years.

Forging relationships

The key to Schuyler Savings Bank’s success and strength throughout eight-plus decades has been relationships, according to George Halski, the bank’s president and chief executive officer. Schuyler’s management takes pride in the relationships the bank has forged over the years.

Schuyler Savings Bank was founded in 1924 to serve the Lithuanian community in Kearny. Over the years, the bank has evolved with the community, so that customers of all ages and cultures feel welcome, whether chatting with a teller in Spanish, Portuguese or Polish — or “speaking” online as they do their banking at any hour. The bank’s many second- and third-generation customers, some of whom have been visiting Schuyler Savings since childhood, are fiercely loyal. Even though many have moved out of Kearny, they maintain their accounts with the bank.

Focusing on Customers

While giving credit for the bank’s steady performance and its quality customer service to his staff and board of directors, Halski himself perhaps best reflects the personality of Schuyler Savings Bank. He can be seen each day at Schuyler Savings, often greeting customers in the lobby and making them feel at home.

Halski has more than 35 years in the financial arena as well as master of business administration degrees in both banking and accounting. He is a member of the board of governors at the New Jersey Bankers Association, a trade association representing 118 community banks.

Jim Cummings, vice president and board member, for example, works hard to find ways to support customers who have lost jobs through no fault of their own or have otherwise fallen on hard times.

In addition, recognizing that the 21st-century needs of today’s bank customer are different than those of past generations, Schuyler’s board of directors has moved to ensure that the bank offers the same 24/7 banking services as larger banks, including debit cards, telephone and online banking, as well as a new, state-of-the-art ATM machine that permits cash and check deposits and withdrawals.

Serving the community

Halski and Schuyler’s board have long believed that the bank’s mission calls for outreach and support that goes beyond its customer base to the entire community.

Schuyler’s investment in Kearny has included a $10,000 donation to the city’s fire department for helmets that permit firefighters to find victims quickly in a smoke-filled building; the purchase of trees, street benches and refuse cans for local streets near the bank and Riverbank Park; long-standing support of local organizations such as Pathways to Independence, local churches and, most notably, The Salvation Army of Greater Kearny. In addition to the bank’s financial contributions to that organization, Schuyler’s employees and their families serve as bell-ringers for the Army every Christmas season.

Schuyler Savings’ management and board members are active in the community. The bank’s board chairman, Robert Mooney, is the former superintendent of the Kearny School District and sits on the board of Pathways to Independence. Mooney, as well as two members of the bank’s management and board member Laurence Mach, serve on the Salvation Army’s advisory board. Board member Bruce Kauffmann is the retired chief inspector for the Kearny Fire Department; and George Moroses serves as a trustee on Our Lady of Sorrow’s parish council. Halski, Mach and Mooney also are members of the Optimist Club of Kearny. Cummings, a decorated combat veteran, is active in veteran’s affairs.

Schuyler Savings Bank plans to hold a grand reopening in the near future to celebrate the renovation and update of its building and lobby, located at 24 Davis Ave. The bank’s future offers significant upside, both for the bank and the community, according to Mooney, who said the board is focusing on responsible financing, greater promotion of services, customer education and continuing service to the community.