Ms. Sherman: We are a 1.6 billion community bank that has a commercial orientation. We are headquartered in the city of Providence, which is the capital of the state of Rhode Island, and we have 16 branches in the Greater Providence area. We are a full-service bank. Our emphasis is on servicing small to mid-sized businesses as well as providing high-touch personalized service to our retail customer base, which is vital in that area.
TWST: Tell us about your background.
Ms. Sherman: I was one of the founders of Bank Rhode Island. Many, many years ago, I was a lawyer and had a banking practice. I became a fairly young CEO in the early 1990s with Eastland Bank, in the northern part of Rhode Island. I went on to be President of a bank in Vermont. Then my business partner and I, who is our Chairman of the Board, spearheaded an investor group that bought a franchise from Fleet Bank when it was divesting franchises in the mid-1990s in connection with its merger with Shawmut Bank. We put an investor group together, bought the 12 branches that were for sale and formed Bank Rhode Island. Our intention then was to be a mid-sized commercial bank and fill a real niche that we thought was available in the Greater Providence area. The rest is history. We were successful in doing that. We have grown our footings, our branch network and our customer base. We are very pleased with what we've done over the years.
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