Corrections or additions?
These stories by Peter Mladineo and Barbara Fox were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper
on April 22, 1998. All rights reserved.
Life in the Fast Lane
While the big bank mergers are continuing to make headlines,
small banks are continuing to fill their coffers with fancy moves.
Last week Trenton Savings Bank made $238 million in a stock sale converting
it from a mutual thrift into a publicly held bank. This week, 1st
Constitution Bank, the community bank located on Route 130 in Cranbury,
announced a two-pronged secondary stock offering expected to raise
between $2.5 and $4 million.
This transaction will have two parts: The first is a shareholder rights
offering, which will give current 1st Constitution shareholders the
rights to purchase one share for each share currently owned through
May 15. Simultaneously shares will be sold to the general public.
Overall a total of 250,000 shares will be offered for $12.25 per share.
If necessary, the board of directors will increase the size of the
offering to 350,000 shares. “We’re trying to broaden the number
of shareholders that we have,” says Robert E. Mangano, the president
and CEO. “It’s the best of both worlds in that we are certainly
not excluding our existing shareholders but are looking for new shareholders.”
1st Constitution was formed in 1989, and raised capital then by issuing
roughly 700,000 shares of stock, which are now traded over-the-counter
on the Electronic Bulletin Board under the symbol FCCY. Shares are
currently selling for $11.50. “We started to trade on the electronic
bulletin board at year-end,” says Mangano. “It enables our
shareholders to look it up and get a price. It’s just another way
to keep your shareholders informed.”
Since Mangano came aboard in September of 1996, 1st Constitution has
grown from $73 million in size to roughly $100 million. This week
it reported an 84 percent increase in net income in the first quarter
of 1998 compared to the same period in 1997. The higher earnings were
because of an expansion of the net interest income, a result of a
30 percent increase in loans for the first quarter of 1998.
“In the last year or so we have substantially improved the profitability
of the company,” says Mangano. “That growth and the improvement
in earnings has really prompted the view of the capital offering.”
Mangano, 52, has degrees from St. John’s University (Class of ’78)
and Rutgers University’s Stonier Graduate School of Banking (Class
of ’80). He spent the first 21 years of his career at Midlantic Bank
(now PNC Bank) in Garrett Mountain (Passaic County). Next came a stint
running Urban National Bank, a $200 million community bank based in
Franklin Lakes. Three years later that bank was sold to a larger bank,
Hubco.
1st Constitution will use the money to expand into Middlesex, Mercer,
and Somerset counties, says Mangano, although its small size gives
it a prized agility in these merger-intensive times. As the larger
banks in the area continue consolidating, he explains, certain service
niches are being ignored, a condition that creates niches in areas
like consumer and small business banking. For investors, these conditions
are making community bank stocks very attractive.
For example, Unity Bancorp, the Clinton-based parent company of First
Community Bank, just received a buy recommendation from First Colonial
Securities Group, a Marlton-based investment group that follows community
banks in New Jersey. “It’s no longer looked at as just a cyclical,
staid-type business,” says Michael Golden, the president and CEO
of First Colonial Securities and the former vice chairman of Carnegie
Bank. “It has become more of a growth business. That has happened
because the banking laws have been relaxed by the fed over the last
four or five years. Therefore since it’s not as cyclical, the P-E
(price to earnings) ratios have started to climb and the stocks themselves
have started to move out of an old range.”
“I think that the strategy that large banks have followed really
incorporates working on larger transactions and the amount of staff
that they have that’s dedicated pretty much focuses on those large
transactions so that there’s a portion of the market that gets overlooked,”
says Mangano. “And on the consumer end you will generally find
smaller banks usually charge less for their service and pay higher
rates on their interest product. The individual has access to senior
management in a smaller bank. You can generally give people answers
quickly because you operate efficiently.”
— Peter J. Mladineo
1st Constitution Bank, 2650 Route 130 North, Cranbury08512-0634. Robert F. Mangano, president and CEO. 609-655-4500;fax, 609-655-5653.Top Of PageNew in TownBridge Associates International, 10 Wall Street,Princeton 08540. Norman T. George, managing partner. 609-688-0888;fax, 609-688-0802.Four alumni from Hoechst Marion Roussel have opened a management consultingfirm in 1,350 square feet in Research Park. They are Roy T. Cherris,formerly head of microbiological laboratories; E. Ericson, Ph.D, formerlyin charge for US quality operations; Norman George, a strategic directoralso with Hoechst; and Louis G. Pavloff, Hoechst Marion Roussel’sformer vice president of operations.The firm’s specialties include the purchasing, testing, and production,and distribution of current good management processes, regulatorycompliance, new product launches, facilities planning, and processimprovement.Top Of PageExpansionsMerrill Lynch, 800 Scudders Mill Road, Box 9024, Princeton 08543, Harry Ferguson, first vicepresident, corporate real estate. 609-282-4201; fax: 609-282-4250.Merrill Lynch may eventually expand to Hopewell, but in the meantimeit has signed another long-term lease at College Park. Its real estatedivision has just announced it will move from Scudder’s Mill Road to a54,000 square foot building formerly occupied by Rhone Poulenc. SabRusso of CB Commercial and Robert Herzog of Merrill Lynch representedthe financial firm, and Vince Marano and Tom Stange of NationalBusiness Parks represented College Road Associates in negotiating thelong term lease.Merrill Lynch has a conditional deal to buy 450 acres in Hopewell from Bristol-Myers Squibb. While Merrill officials arewrangling with municipal leaders over sewer requirements, the brokerage obviously has more immediate expansion needs.Remodeling of 103 College Road has begun with the installation of a new granite-clad lobby and specially designedchandeliers and wall sconces.Built in 1982, this property listed for $32,250 gross rent per month($21.50 to $23.50 per foot, based on a 10-year lease) last fall, andnow only minuscule spaces remain empty in the 11-building park.Alta Technologies, 8 Ilene Court, HillsboroughIndustrial Park, Box 720, Belle Mead 08502. Percy Leaper, president.908-359-7990; fax, 908-359-0720.A Belle Mead-based factory owner has announced he willmove to a new 12,000 square foot facility on Reed Road, just northof I-95. P&P Properties LLC, which is associated with Alta Technologies,bought a three-acre site from Lovero Construction last June.The 11-year-old firm is expected to consolidate several facilitiesat the new building, designed by Allentown-based G.A. Fett, and toadd some several jobs to the current seven. In addition to the currentbuildings on Ilene Court there is a small operation off of Route 31in Pennington. Percy Leaper — who is joined in the business byhis daughter and son-in-law — says he plans to move on or aboutJune 1.Though Reed Road is home to such parks as Hopewell Industrial Parkand Cardinal Business Park and has such high-tech manufacturing tenantsas Ocean Power Technologies and Diversatech, this facility is on theLovero property next to a private home. Paul Goldman of CommercialProperty Network represented buyer and seller. Alta’s basic productis manufactured in Kentucky, and the Pennington operation will serveas a finishing plant. Alta Technologies makes protective jacketingfor wire and cable harnesses, industrial hoses, and braided sleevingsused for medical devices. These sleevings are made of plastic monofilamentsand are used for the auto, aerospace, dispensing, electronic, andmarine industries, as well as for medical purposes.Leaper grew up in suburban Philadelphia, Delaware County, where hisfather was vice president of a chemical company. He went to JohnsHopkins, Class of 1958, and is active on biomedical development committeesthere. He has been president of Dale Tech, a manufacturer of extrudedtubing on Route 1 North, vice president of Netvar in Woodbridge, productmanager at AMP in Harrisburg, and most recently part-owner and vicepresident of marketing for Voltube Corporation, a manufacturer offiberglass coated sleevings in Edison.”We developed techniques for finishing the product in an extremelyround form which greatly facilitated the application of the materialover wire harnesses,” says Leaper, who estimates his firm is eithersecond or third in market share, with competitors including BentleyHarris, located outside of Philadelphia, and Colorado-based WesternFilament.He handles sales, marketing and administration, while his son in lawruns the manufacturing, and his daughter is in charge of the office.”We try to keep a low overhead approach to the business, but wedefinitely needed to grow and consolidate.”Nettech Systems Inc., 600 Alexander Road, Princeton08540. Boris Fridman, president. 609-734-0300; fax, 609-683-5019.E-mail: boris@nettechrf.com. Home page: https://www.nettechrf.com.The developer of wireless communications software moved to 7,600 at600 Alexander Road from 4,750 square feet at from 158 Wall Street,Research Park. The staff size has increased from approximately 20to 35 employees. Tamara Kanoc, Nettech’s marketing manager, explainsthat the wireless data communications market has expanded over thelast year. “And we’ve also increased our customer based over 50percent in the last year,” she says.Top Of PageDeathsBryant Walworth, 78, on April 13. He retired from AmericanCyanamid in 1990 after 43 years.Elaine B. Shevack, 52, on April 13. She was head tellerfor the Pennington office of Trenton Savings Bank.Margaret Norwood, 61, on April 13. She was a lab technicianwith St. Francis Medical Center.Frances Clark, 93, on April 17. She co-founded the NewSchool for Music Study on Main Street in Kingston and produced a libraryof materials for piano students.Corrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
