NJBIZ Conversations: Donald Mindiak

Small business owners know the value of relationships, especially with a bank, and community bankers count on that acknowledgement to keep their own businesses humming along. The connection between community banks and small businesses was thrown into sharp relief during the pandemic, when those bankers stood on the front lines making sure COVID funds flowed to owners struggling to stay afloat.

Donald Mindiak was right there. Now the CEO of Lakewood-based First Commerce Bank, Mindiak was a top executive at the institution for most of the pandemic. In this edition of NJBIZ Conversations, Mindiak talks about what those years were like for First Commerce, where the economy might be headed and why community banks remain critical actors in the state’s economy.

“For the most part, I think community banks stick with their bread and butter, taking deposits from their community, lending those funds out into the community to help small businesses and builders conduct their business,” he said. “It’s what we consider to be a pretty symbiotic relationship.”

To watch the full interview, click on the image below.

For podcast fans

NJBIZ Conversations is now available as a podcast, as well as a video. Subscribe to NJBIZ Conversations on Apple or Google Podcasts. Find direct links here: njbiz.podbean.com