2007 May/June

• Yarmouth at a crossroads

  Cape Business sat with Bob DuBois, executive director of the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce, to discuss the town’s economy in 2007 and beyond. These are excerpts of that interview.

• Restaurants for all seasons

  The restaurant industry on Cape Cod is undergoing dramatic – and sometimes painful – transitions. Those highly dependent on summer business are discovering that tourism patterns are changing at a threatening pace.

• The road ahead: Route 28

  It’s a haven for mini-golfers, a summer playground for tourists, a jumble of clam shacks, restaurants, motels and cottages. It’s too busy in summer and too quiet in winter. It’s a blessing and a curse. It’s Yarmouth’s stretch of Route 28, fraught with challenges and full of possibilities that – until now – haven’t been fulfilled.

• Yarmouth’s heritage is often hidden from view

  When it comes to Yarmouth’s historical offerings, Duncan Oliver wants more people to realize how much Yarmouth’s past can enhance its future.

• Using CPA funds to create a cultural magnet in town

  Six years + $700,000 + thousands of hours of community sweat equity = the Cultural Center of Cape Cod. Don’t forget to add vision, love, dedication and a dash of the Quixotic.

• Second-home economy ripples across Yarmouth

  More than a third of Yarmouth’s residential properties are second homes, and the percentage is growing every year. Unlike in the past, many of these second-home owners occupy their homes here year-round, frequently traveling from elsewhere in Massachusetts on a Thursday or Friday night for long weekends.

• Yarmouth becoming its own home depot

  There is a building boom in Yarmouth – building supply stores, that is. Plumbing and electrical distributor Ferguson/J.D. Daddario recently opened its 11th location, this one on Route 28. It joins Supply New England – which is completing its new site on Willow Street – Simon’s and Snow & Jones to create a mini-mecca for building supplies.

• A building supply mecca

  Yarmouth has become a destination for plumbing and heating distribution companies, from Supply New England to Simon’s, Snow & Jones, and recent Yarmouth addition Ferguson/J.D. Daddario. This proliferation of similar businesses in the same general category has apparently not diluted the demand – all appear to be surviving and thriving in this crowded market.

• Banks’ challenges are businesses’ opportunities

  Banks across the Cape, regardless of size, are confronting unparalleled challenges to their industry – and that makes every business customer all the more valuable to each of them.

• Q&A on the summer outlook …

  with Wendy Northcross, CEO, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, and Rachel Roginsky, principal, Pinnacle Advisory Group

• The Law at Work: Preparing for the summer season

  As summer approaches, many Cape employers begin their hiring processes and some may begin hiring before properly preparing for interviews and the application process. The following article identifies topics every employer should understand to avoid potential liability associated with interviews and applications.

• So, you want to borrow money …

  If you need a commercial loan, the environment is extremely attractive. There are many banks vying for your business as they shift more into business banking as the residential mortgage market dwindles due to competition and a down housing market.

• Cape Cod Cooperative Bank: Moving to bigger headquarters

  This spring, Cape Cod Cooperative Bank moves into its new operations center in Independence Park, making Hyannis its headquarters – and selling its smaller, longtime Willow Street location to the Bilezikian family, former owners of Christmas Tree Shops.

• Bank of Cape Cod: Enters during challenging times

  Bank of Cape Cod opened last fall in the midst of turmoil within its industry – from pinched profits to a tumbling housing market. Yet, in many ways, its timing may prove impeccable.

• Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank: Working to stay No. 1 in Cape market

  Dorothy Savarese had barely began her tenure as CEO of Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank before encountering the brew of challenges facing her entire industry. She also has had to maneuver within an increasingly competitive market that includes not only arriving mega banks, but also a new community bank whose CFO once worked with her at Cape Cod Five.

• The Community Bank: Betting that 'small' is a plus

  The Community Bank – with headquarters in Brockton – has emerged from a series of strategic sessions with a “small is powerful” game plan. CEO David Curtis and his management team will try to avoid direct confrontations with bigger and more powerful competitors. Instead, they are creating a boutique approach to banking.

• Eastern Bank: Under one roof

  Richard E. Holbrook has become chairman and CEO of Eastern Bank more than two years after its ambitious merger with Plymouth Savings Bank and amid one of the most challenging eras in the history of banking in Massachusetts.

• First Citizens' Federal Credit Union: Growing with a new consortium

  While credit unions are quite common in Plymouth and Bristol counties, they are almost unique to the Cape, where Fairhaven-based First Citizens’ Federal Credit Union is making an aggressive stand – with branches in Falmouth, Hyannis and Orleans.

• Rockland Trust: Steadily growing regional franchise

  Rockland Trust has managed to grow its share of consumer deposits on Cape Cod, despite an overall shrinking market. But CEO and President Chris Oddleifson is well aware that deposits are far from the only benchmark of success in a highly competitive banking environment.

• Businesses can now deposit checks directly from the office

  Banks of all sizes are investing in image-capture technology. Using a desktop scanner, you can deposit checks directly from your office into your bank account. Technology now allows you to scan the check and electronically transmit the image to the bank, where it is processed for rapid clearing.

• Bank of America: Is bigger better on Cape Cod?

  While homegrown banks market their independence and local roots, Bank of America’s Gwen Dadoly is happy to ride a big-budget television campaign that positions her – along with 130 other regional presidents across the company’s huge footprint – as the “bank of opportunity.”

• Citizens Bank: Succeeds with supermarket strategy

  From his glass-enclosed office overlooking Faneuil Hall – and miles beyond – Bob Smyth ponders how Citizens Bank can grow from its No. 2 position in the Plymouth County and Cape Cod markets.

• Sovereign Bank: Forging a local identity

  Jack Meehl and Jennifer Dooling not only have the challenge of introducing Sovereign Bank’s brand to a crowded marketplace on Cape Cod, but also of eradicating what was perceived as ineffective service by Compass Bank, which it acquired three years ago.

• TD Banknorth: New CEO, new structure

  While some rivals are expanding their operations on the Cape, TD Banknorth is contracting. It’s part of a companywide evaluation of its branch network across the entire Northeast and Mid-Atlantic after years of rapid-fire acquisitions that included Cape Cod Bank & Trust.

• Windows Vista: What to do?

  A personal computer's operating system is its brains. It tells your programs how to interact with your hardware, transmitting your intentions into words, calculations, photos, or any of the other tasks PCs handle.

• Taking the pulse of Cape Cod Healthcare

  The system’s opportunities reflect our fast-changing economy. Its challenges could affect every business and resident in the region.
  

• Building a legacy for tomorrow

  As a young child growing up on Cape Cod in the summertime, my grandfather would take my brothers and me on an afternoon excursion. We would drive into Hyannis and visit the Ocean Street docks and watch the ferry coming from or going to Nantucket. From there, we would visit the train station and the arrival from New York. The excursion would continue up Main Street (which was two-way at the time) and stop at Martin’s Bakery, or perhaps Charlberts, Lorrainia’s or Storyland.

• Is air travel coming of age on Cape Cod?

  Do you want to go on a business trip or relax in the Sunbelt without the hassle of driving to Boston or Providence? Now you can, with new one-ticket itineraries from Hyannis to cities including Washington, West Palm Beach, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

• Q&A with Nick Stavropoulos of KeySpan Energy Delivery

  KeySpan, the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast, has installed more than 220 miles of pipeline across Cape Cod over the last five years. It is now proposing to construct 13.1 miles of natural gas pipeline to reinforce its existing Sagamore line. The proposed line crosses sections of Sandwich, Barnstable, South Yarmouth, Dennis and Harwich.

• What’s your business golf strategy?

  The money and time you spend on golf can be an excellent investment, because the sport is such a powerful tool for building relationships and developing business.

• Pressure mounts to increase, expand tourist tax

  An old economic adage says: If you want more of something, subsidize it; if you want less, tax it. Challenging this principle, some political leaders are ramping up efforts to increase a 9.7 percent hotel tax – and expand it to summer home rentals.

• Rockland Trust’s newest venture

  ‘1031’ could be a very lucky number for Rockland Trust. It already is for two entrepreneurs whose business, Compass Exchange Advisors LLC, was recently purchased by the bank.

• Cape construction takes a new tack

  Two years into a national housing slump, Cape Cod builders are experiencing strength in renovation and remodeling work, particularly among baby boomers approaching retirement. However, the forecast for new construction remains cloudy, except for tear downs and high end buyers looking to build exactly their right house.

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