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NEWS BRIEFS
Chase promotes Fitzwater to president of six area branches
Jim D. Fitzwater is the City Executive Huntington Market President of Chase Bank.
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HUNTINGTON -- After 15 years with Chase Bank in Huntington, previously Bank One, Jim Fitzwater has been promoted to president of the six Huntington branches.
And under his leadership, the bank will be working to increase lending to small businesses.
"Small businesses are the driving force of the economy, and the Huntington area is loaded with those types of businesses," Fitzwater said.
It's a great time for them to either open or expand because interest rates are extremely low, he said.
"If you have plans to expand or purchase, you have to use the interest rate to your advantage," he said.
Corporation-wide, Chase bank plans to increase its loans to small businesses from $6 billion to $10 billion.
"This will provide businesses with increased access to working capital, term loans for expansion, commercial mortgages, lines of credit, and business credit cards," according to a press release from the company. "While the $4 billion in additional credit will be available to qualified businesses with annual sales of less than $20 million, the majority of new loans will be targeted to companies with sales of less than $10 million."
In his new role, Fitzwater is responsible for providing financial services to help businesses and government units run, and to invest for the future. Chase provides commercial loans, deposit products, cash management and public funds.
"Jim knows the Huntington area, is an excellent banker, and a champion for our clients and the community," Ron Beane, president of Chase in West Virginia, said in the release.
Fitzwater is a Gilmer County, W.Va., native, who spent some years banking elsewhere in West Virginia and in South Carolina before moving to Huntington to work for Bank One in 1994, underwriting and approving loans. He became business relationship manager in 1997, before taking over as president of the branch in December. He replaces David Graley, who retired a couple years ago.
Fitzwater is married to Cabell County native Lorie Fitzwater, and has one son, Hunter.
Other members of Fitzwater's team include:
Robert Van Nostrand, senior vice president, a 20-year banking veteran including 10 years in West Virginia, who joined Chase in November 2009.
Jason Hatcher, vice president, with 10 years banking experience. In 2009, Hatcher was the No. 1 Chase credit-producing banker in West Virginia, and ranked in the top 20 percent of Chase bankers nationally.
Marcia Smith, vice president and cash management specialist, with 31 years of service with Chase and its predecessors.
Beverly D. Swann, senior client services professional with 20 years of service with Chase and its predecessors in Huntington.
Vicki Turner, senior client services professional with 33 years experience with Chase and its predecessors in Huntington and Charleston.
"I'd like business owners to think of us as community bankers who live and work in this community," Fitzwater said. While the corporate power of Chase is beneficial to business owners in a variety of ways -- such has helping to collect funds internationally with businesses that export goods -- "we're community bankers at heart," he said.
To make sure that businesses are getting a fair shake, Chase is offering a Second Look program, through which customers whose loan requests are declined can call and have it looked at again. They also can have a discussion about why it was declined.
"It's a good program," Fitzwater said. "It gives clients an opportunity to go beyond and say, 'Here's what I don't understand.'"
