Falvey’s departure from Bank of New Hampshire called personal decision

LACONIA — Paul J. Falvey’s abrupt departure from his job as president and chief executive officer of the Bank of New Hampshire was completely a personal decision unrelated to the workings of the financial institution, Michael J. Long, his acting successor, said Monday.

Falvey resigned Friday effective immediately. Long, a member of the bank’s board, was named interim president and CEO.

Falvey and his wife are from southeastern Massachusetts and plan to relocate there to be closer to family.

“Everything going on in the world causes all of us to reflect a little,” Falvey said. “I came to the bank with a mission to really improve the bank in a number of ways. We really have achieved that. In a number of respects, the bank is in great shape and is performing very well.

“We grew up in the South Shore. We thought this was a good time to relocate and let another leader come in right now.”

Long, 65, is the retired president and chief executive officer of Community Guaranty Savings Bank in Plymouth, which was acquired by the Bank of New Hampshire in 2016.

He said he plans to stay in the position through the end of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and through the process of finding a permanent successor to Falvey.

With the exception of Falvey’s departure, the management team at the bank remains intact.

Long said the majority of the bank’s staff has been working from home. According to the bank's website, employs more than 300 people at 24 locations around the state.

Some have been toiling around the clock to process loans being offered through the U.S. Small Business Administration. Nobody has been laid off from the bank. Drive-up locations are open.

“The bank is still in great shape and is very strong,” Long said. “We’ll weather this storm and we’ll help customers weather it too.”

Long said he hopes businesses that have had to close because of the coronavirus pandemic might be able to start opening in May.

“We’re a tourist area and a lot of the businesses here are involved in the tourist trade,” he said. “We’re hoping they will be up and running by Memorial Day weekend.”

He said he expects the bank will be looking to add staff this summer.

Bank Vice President Michael Seymour said the bank has been processing loans that are part of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Payroll Protection Program (PPP).

“We take our role as a community partner very seriously, whether it is our continuing operations through the drive-up network, online banking, also through this PPP process,” Seymour said. “We want to ensure our Main Streets are able to weather this storm.”

The bank completed its 188th year on June 30th, 2019. The bank grew under Falvey’s three-year tenure.

In its 2019 annual report, Falvey stated that it had a strong year with record earnings, assets and loans. “Net loans increased by $114 million or 9%,” he said “Wealth Management assets under management increased by 12% and bank earnings increased by 25% to $12.6 million, a high water mark for the bank.

“Equally important, we continued to see improvement in our overall performance trends consistent with the plans we put in place two years ago. The strategy is to remain independent and focused on customer service and financial performance.

“Bank of New Hampshire’s financial performance is now consistently ranked at or above the median performance for regional peers. The bank tied for first in overall bank performance rankings in New Hampshire as of the third quarter of 2018.”