Why Liberty is betting community banks still matter in a consolidating world

The banking landscape in New Jersey continues to be shaped by mergers — often
pitched on the premise that bigger is better and that large‑scale institutions can offer
more services, more technology and more advisors to serve the business community.

Not everyone agrees with that assessment.

The founders of Liberty Bank of New Jersey, which opened its first branch in Verona in
late January and will hold its official ribbon cutting April 14, say their formula for success
is refreshingly familiar.

It’s the same one community banks were built on: Customer service grounded in the
belief that a client should be able to reach a bank official quickly, someone empowered
to act on a need or solve a problem.

It’s why CEO Richard Spengler, Chief Operating Officer Ryan Peene, Board Chair Keith
Banks and Vice Chair Thomas Scrivo — along with approximately 350 investors from
New Jersey’s business community — decided to launch Liberty Bank.

And while planning has been underway for about 18 months, they say the need for a
community‑focused institution dates back to the pandemic, when businesses struggled
to process the paperwork for the Paycheck Protection Program.

Peene, then at the since‑merged SB One, said that moment highlighted the value
community banks could provide — and helped them win customers.

“We used PPP loans to help people who were unhappy with their bank,” he said. “We
could pick up the phone. We could talk to people.”

Peene and the group believe that philosophy is just as relevant today. They feel that if
they can capture just 5% of customers who feel overlooked after a merger, Liberty will
thrive.

“We don’t need everybody,” Peene said. “We only need the people left behind by
mergers.”

Banks said Liberty Bank will use that personal service to keep them.

Consolidation, he said, has stripped out local decision‑making and human connection.

At Liberty, he noted, decisions will be made in Verona, by people who are empowered
to say “yes” or “no.”

Banks said Liberty Bank is betting those things still matter, especially in a state where
relationships are the economy.

“One relationship at a time,” he said. “That’s the part of banking that never should have
gone away.”

Spengler, Liberty’s CEO, agrees.

A longtime leader at one of the state’s most respected community banks, Investors, he
left after a merger — but the bank’s core philosophy never left him.

“The most important number you can get from your banker is his private cell,” he said.

And, Spengler added, customers should expect that number to ring their way, too.

“Either Ryan or I return every message that comes, even on weekends,” he said.

Liberty’s four founders all grew up in New Jersey or built their careers here. Their board
spans the northern half of the state. Their investors are New Jersey business owners,
civic leaders and decision‑makers.

That sense of community, Banks said, is everything.

“It’s a New Jersey bank, for New Jersey businesses and New Jersey people,” he said.