Last March, just as most New Jerseyans were hunkering down in the face of a quickly spreading pandemic, executives at Provident Bank and SB One Bank announced that the two institutions had agreed to a merger. The deal, which created the state’s third-largest bank, received regulatory approvals in June and closed in August. Provident CEO Chris Martin holds the same role atop the combined entity, while SB One chief Anthony Labozzetta serves as president. In the latest edition of NJBIZ Conversations, Editor Jeff Kanige spoke with the two executives about what it was like to complete a merger while COVID-19 was keeping offices closed, how the integration process has been going and how they both see the economy developing over the next several months. Watch the interview HERE.
