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Brooklyn,____ incNatWest%u2019s Commitment To Brooklyn Firms Is wContinued from Page Imitment is now changing. Clearly, we%u2019re nowlooking at Metrotech, Bush Terminal andother areas like these that could use ourservices.\NatWest, formerly National Bank ofNorth America, was formed in 1979, whenNational Westminster P.L.C. of London, the14th largest bank in the world, paid $430million to buy what is now the 28th largestbank in the United States. Although its earnings slumped in the years following formation, the bank%u2019s loan portfolio has more thandoubled since 1979, as has its return onassets. After a $2 million loss in 1980, NatWest has begun to establish a strongpresence in this country.Prior to assuming his present responsibilities, Wallace, a career banker, had spent14 years running the First Interstate Bank,the Northwest banking giant based in Portland, Oregon. IntiaUy running that bank%u2019snational division, he later became chairmanof the board before deciding that he wantedto return to New York City.%u201cNatWest became an exciting place to bebecause it was a bank with tremendous opportunity,%u201d he said about his decision toreturn to his hometown. %u201cIts parent company in London took a medium-sized bankand broadened its reach. It already had afocus and didn%u2019t have to discover itsmarket. The bank just needed support andthe resources to expand its base.%u201dPLACEMENT OF KEY PERSONNELPart of NatWest%u2019s base expansion hasbeen the placement of key personnel in itsloan center to try to capture a greatershare of the business from middle marketcompanies and community retail firms.%u201cThere is no substitute for having good people on the scene making it known that thebank desires to support the economy.%u201dLast year, Mary Gelormino was reassignedto Brooklyn to work as team leader for theBrooklyn and Staten Island commercialloans. Gelormino, grew up in Park Slope%u2014her 108-year-old grandfather still residesthere%u2014and lived in the borough all of herlife. Currently residing in Bay Ridge, Gelormino has seen Brooklyn%u2019s economy gothrough %u201cpeaks and valleys.%u201d She says shethinks that one good reason she is doingwell in Brooklyn is because she is a nativeand is familiar with the borough%u2019s economyand its people.%u201cBeing a native of Brooklyn 1 find it veryexciting to be part of its economic revival,%u201dshe says. %u201cIn the 1970%u2019s, I remember the exodus of business companies leaving Brooklyn, but the resurgence that has been happening over the past several years has beentruly exciting. %u201cJust walking through theneighborhoods, there%u2019s a new sense of prideand a heightened interest to preserve thequality of life,%u201d she adds.LIKES HER BROOKLYN TURFGelormino has been with NatWest and itspredecessor since 1965. A graduate of NewYork University, she moved through thebank%u2019s commercial loan department beforebeing promoted to vice-president in 1981.Gelormino is happy to be mi familiar turfand working with her Brooklyn customers.%u201cNatWest%u2019s success is entirely integratedwith the success of our community customers,%u201d she says. %u201cWe%u2019re not a giant bank andnot a small bank, as a result we can offerindividual services that our largest competitors can%u2019t. We provide services at alower cost compared to our competitors andour products are also tailored to maximizebenefits as well. With the resources that wecan draw on from our parent (London)company, we feel we can outdistance any ofour competitors,%u201d she adds.A good part of Gelormino%u2019s work is in thefield. She spends much of her time traveling to the offices of cusotmers and potentialcustomers to observe their businesses firsthand. %u201cTo understand our customer%u2019sneeds, we have to go out and see what theydo and what the nature of their businessis.%u201d The loan officer says her clients rangefrom tug boat operators and paper wholesalers to food processors and apparel manufacturers.%u201cIn Brooklyn you can find every- type ofmanufacturer; Manhattan doesn%u2019t offer that- %u2014 -----------m ~ j j . t t ___ ii a u g v . c u tj , o u t u u u o , u u u u iBrooklyn the companies outlive the bankers, in Manhattan with all the change, thebankers usually outlive the businesses.%u201dOne of Gelormino%u2019s current clients isMarshall Smoked Fish Co., located inMortimer Korchin (left) of Marshall Smoked Fish Company, explains the drying process of the fish before they enter the sm okingcham bers to Bob W allace, chairman, and Phil Stenger, vice-president and Montague Street m anager of the National W estm inster Bank,(Brooklyn, inc/Kirk Photo)Greenpoint. The company has been inoperation for 75 years and was started bythe father of the company%u2019s current president, Mortimer Korchin. Marshall processes smoked Norwegian and Alaskansalmon, Canadian sturgeon, Idaho trout,Great Lakes whiting and pickles Newfoundland herring. Last year NatWest financedthe creation of additional warehouse spacefor the company and on June 4, PresidentWallace and loan officer Gelormino touredthe processing plant to see how the coinNatWest loan officers at Marshall FishCom pany in Greenpoint wade through thewater under racks of drying fish to helpunderstand the business. Above, from leftto right, Mortimer Korchin, president ofMarshall Fish Company, leads Phil Stenger,and Mary Gelorm ino of the bank%u2019s M ontague Street branch and Bob Wallace,Chairman and Chief Executive O fficer ofNatWest on a recent tour. Above, right andleft, Marshaii em ployees preparing fishbefore entering the drying chambers.(Brooklyn, inc/Kirk Photos)Salmon is in a smoking cham ber at Marshall's, the largest sm oked fish com pany in thenation. (Brooklyn, inc/Kirk Photo)pany is working since the new warehousespace has come into use.Located just off Anthony Street, guestsare greeted at a small reception area where, they don protective cloth jackets to protecttheir clothes. As Korchin greets Gelormino,he says, %u201cLet me kiss my fayorite banker.%u201dThen he turns to Wallace and says, %u201cI guessyou want to see how we spent your money.%u201dWallace, who may work every day in thecommercial canyons of Manhattan, is clearly at ease with Korchin%u2019s familiarity in thisGreenpoint plant. When Korchin realizesthat Wallace is also a native Brooklynite,the two immediatley become inseparable.Marshall%u2019s processing area is located immediately behind the owners%u2019 offices. GelorWallacc and the others on the tourslosh through watery puddles left from thefrozen fish that are hung overhead to dry.current operation since itwas their loan that made the addition possible. Wallace is impressed with what hesees. The company%u2019s owner even points tothe warehouse details that are locallyPage 4, The Phoenlx/Brooklyn.lnc Section Two, June 26, 1986