Frank H. Hamlin, III, President and CEO, Michelle Pedzich, Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer, and Vincent K. Yacuzzo, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, were featured in a Daily Messenger article that discusses rebuilding after the COVID-19 crisis. Read the article below.

Rebuilding America: Common-sense action helps in times of crisis

By: Daily Messenger - Mike Murphy
Published: May 28, 2020

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. believes helping the community now makes for a smoother reopening later

CANANDAIGUA — In the days of the Great Depression, the folks at Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Company drove to the Federal Reserve to get stacks of money to bring back and place in the bank’s windows — in essence, alleviating concerns of a shortage of cash in the hopes of avoiding a run.

Among the key differences in the coronavirus pandemic of today, the bank was working at ways to get money into the hands of people quickly — while essentially changing the bank’s business operation on the fly and determining ways to keep employees and customers safe, according to bank President and Chief Executive Officer Frank H. Hamlin III.

“It became pretty apparent pretty quickly that the customers — people out there in the community — were having to make some pretty serious choices. People were getting furloughed and laid off very quickly. Entire industries were getting shut down and it was clear that people were going to have to choose between paying rent and mortgage vs. feeding their families,” Hamlin said. “It was pretty scary stuff and, by the way, it’s not over.”

Much has been reported nationally on the problems with government initiatives such as hesitancy in releasing money through the Paycheck Protection Program; part of that may have been leftover shell shock from larger institutions over the 2008 financial crisis and part from sheer volume. The approach locally was to “blast forward” on this, Hamlin said.

“We, as a community bank, didn’t have those fears. We could focus on doing the right thing and cleaning it up later,” Hamlin said. “We knew the point of this was to get as much money as possible back into our community, knowing full well that to the extent we could help the community keep its employment structure in place, it’s going to be easier for us to start up again.”

Regular communications with employees early on — from safety instructions to how-to sessions on handling and processing applications to dealing with customers for those who don’t ordinary do so and more — enabled the bank to mobilize on governmental programs on lending because getting money into the hands of the community was just critical and took a lot of people power, said Michelle L. Pedzich, senior vice president-chief human resources officer.

“Every single one of our employees was redeployed to help out with some of these programs and were thrilled to do so,” Pedzich said.

What’s next? Many thoughts, ideas and theories are out there, but who really knows?

Vincent K. Yacuzzo, treasurer, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said it’s too early to pontificate with certainty on the timing and extent of an economic rebound. Some have said a rebound will resemble a V, with a quick plunge and quick rise, he said. Others expect a short-term fix while still others are planning for a long, gradual return to whatever normal will be after this is done.

The bank’s core tenet is serving as a guide for Yacuzzo.

“Keep that long term view in mind. It’ll be OK,” he said. “Do the right thing. Be a stable force for all of our key stakeholders. Finances and the rest of that will take care of itself.”

As a community bank that entered the crisis on solid financial ground, he said the bank may emerge on the other side stronger than ever before.

CNB leaders have participated in discussions with various economists, association groups, trade groups, and the like in terms of what the future looks like.

Hamlin said anybody who tells you the answer to that is lying or is mistaken, but the success of moving forward depends on people respecting one another.

“So long as locally we use common sense and be conscientious about others, this reopening all happens in a much more smooth, prolonged and sustainable way,” Hamlin said. “This is about common sense and about one step in front of the other.”

To view the full article, click here.