As one of the oldest mutual savings banks in the country, Walden Savings Bank has long invested in the well-being of local communities in creative ways, the latest venture being a large loan to preserve Sugar Loaf Mountain for future generations.
“We are the business community that wants to grow, develop, and build new buildings, but we also have to preserve some very important properties,” CEO Derrik Wynkoop told The Epoch Times.
“It is not just about commercial properties, it is also about finding those perfect things that help the balance of the community ecosystem.”
The $1.4 million loan was committed to Orange County Land Trust, a nonprofit organization that proposed to buy the 300-acre-plus private mountain for $2.4 million, with the goal of adding it to the state park system.
The purchase will create the first-ever public access to the mountain in the Town of Chester, as well as a new trail from its rocky summit down to the artistic hamlet of Sugar Loaf.
“We have funding lined up from a variety of sources, which includes, most importantly, donations from the greater Orange County community and two loans from foundations,” Orange County Land Trust President Jim Delaune told The Epoch Times.
An Unconventional Loan
It wasn’t a conventional loan, Mr. Wynkoop said, as unlike most commercial loans that come with revenue-generating properties, the mountain doesn’t make money.“Let’s say, [in] a strip mall, there is a liquor store, a Chinese restaurant, and a Family Dollar store; so, the landlord has a rent roll that is paying, but there is no rent roll on the top of this mountain,” he said.
While Orange County Land Trust made inquiries to several banks, including some large ones, Walden Savings was one of the few that returned its calls.
“You have to look behind the numbers and look at the people,” Mr. Wynkoop said.
He and his commercial lending team worked with the land trust to hash out a loan repayment plan that consists of savings, fundraising, and potential public funding.
“You have to believe in the board of the land trust. They have to sing for their supper each year to repay the loan,” Mr. Wynkoop said, adding that Walden Savings will also support the nonprofit group.
In June, he invited almost all of his contacts to the land trust’s annual benefit dinner—where he was honored for the pending purchase of Sugar Loaf Mountain—and Walden Savings paid $10,000 in sponsorship.
Loan repayments have also come in another form.
Following the bank’s commitment to the transaction, most land trust board members switched their banking to Walden Savings, Mr. Wynkoop said.
A Community Bank
The key to Walden Savings being able to make unconventional loans such as this one goes to its roots as a mutual saving bank, where depositors are co-owners of the company, Mr. Wynkoop said.Its history dates to 1872, when the first location was established on Oak Street in Walden, making it the country’s 11th-oldest federally chartered mutual saving bank.
“As a mutual, I don’t have to answer to shareholders; I answer to our depositors,” he said. “There is no traditional pressure to get share prices up or to pay a dividend on your stocks.”
The eight board members of the bank, including Mr. Wynkoop, share common values for serving customers, employees, and the community at the same time, he said.
When the bank makes a profit, he said, it goes to customers through enhanced products, to employees via better benefits, and to the communities through donations and sponsorships.
“All three are beneficiaries, each one equally important in mutuality,” Mr. Wynkoop said.
The bank currently serves about 34,000 customers through its 10 branches in Orange County, plus one each in Sullivan and Dutchess counties.
Each year, it gives about $500,000 back to the community through time, money, and services, Mr. Wynkoop said.
Given the recent bank failures in the United States, he said that he feels increasing pressure to go public and receives almost one call a day from investment banks to do just that, but he and the rest of the board members remain strong in their faith in a mutual savings bank and won’t bend under pressure.
“I get recruited all the time to leave and go to bigger banks, but this bank matches who I am,” said Mr. Wynkoop, who will reach his 12th year at Walden in September.
“At the end of the day, banking is about helping people reach their financial goals, but sometimes we lose track of the fact that we are actually in the business of helping people.”
