As a small business owner, one of my early strategic goals was to build a strong relationship with a bank. In challenging economic times, the right banking partner is critical to the success of any business. When we launched Kalix Communications in late summer of 2012 we decided to bank with a large East Coast bank that marketed itself as a “small business friendly bank”.
While the bank had a very strong brick and motor footprint in the Baltimore metropolitan area, we soon realized that this large out of state headquartered bank was anything but “small business friendly”. After several frustrating months of horrendous customer service and broken promises we realized that we had made a mistake. This was clearly not the right bank for us.
Thus we began a search for a locally owned bank that would be 100% transparent in all of its dealings and one that offered outstanding customer service. Most importantly, we wanted a bank supporting us as we grow. I’m proud to say that we found that bank right here in Maryland that is both locally-owned and locally-managed.
Howard Bank has not only delivered on its brand promise to us, they have exceeded our expectations. From the complimentary coffee, to the free use of branch conference rooms for meetings (can you say wow!) to the courier they send to our Baltimore City office to pick up deposits (free as well, a double wow!) this is not just any bank.
Howard Bank takes a refreshing approach to small business banking and I highly recommend them to any business owner. Our Howard Bank team of Bill Jenne, Daphne A. Dressler and Chandra Klein not only talk a good game, they deliver on everything they say they will do. That’s impressive.
Jonathan Oleisky is President of Kalix Communications
