May 21, 2009

The Bank of Smithtown will celebrate its 100th birthday in July, but it's acting like an institution half its age.The bank, which just last week completed its second stock offering in the last eight months - the latest bringing in $28 million - has launched its largest expansion program ever. It will open seven new branches in the second half of this year and is planning more in a corner of the world it once considered alien territory: Manhattan.The bank also has moved away from risky construction loans and begun building a portfolio of loans to landlords of less risky multifamily dwellings.

They've grown very significantly in the last few years," said Doug Manditch, chief executive of Empire National Bank in Islandia. "They've been very profitable, and I'm sure many banks are probably envious of what they've been able to do. The only thing I think is that some people worry they're growing too fast."Companies that grow too fast can end up in trouble, running out of cash, for example, or becoming too big to manage, like some of the giant banks that grew and grew.But Brad Rock, 56, Smithtown chairman and chief executive since 1992, said in an interview Wednesday the bank's growth is based on fundamentals, not speculative loans.