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"Most successful business owners have an accountant and an attorney, and they really should have a good banker," said Michael King, senior vice president of the Hudson Valley Bank in Yonkers.
"Relationship is an overused term, but having a strong relationship with a banker will allow him to understand your business, and to anticipate threats and show opportunities," King said. "Bankers envision ways to help them increase their business."
Bankers don't limit their efforts to simply taking deposits and lending money anymore. "There may be a few purist banks that still do only that, but most bankers are business consultants who happen to lend money as well," said Frank J. Celentano, vice president of the western region business services group of the Bank of New York in Mamaroneck.
"Small-business owners lack the internal financial expertise because of their size," Celentano said. "The owner is wearing five hats, he doesn't have a CFO, and the operations manager tends to an outside accountant." For those small-business...