By Paul M. Peduto

Before I arrived at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston in early 2003, I'd spent 17 years at member WarrenBank of Peabody and eight years at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston.

Having spent significant time at both the Bank and a member institution, I know firsthand the effectiveness of this time-tested banking relationship.

In my last two years as CFO at Warren Bank, I was seeing a growing number of regulatory changes slowly start to eat away at the time CFOs and CEOs were spending on the day-to-day financial management of their organizations. These changes involved disclosure, risk assessment, and documentation under the Patriot Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the FDIC, and other regulatory agencies.

Today, I think many of our members are experiencing those same time constraints, which reduce the time they spend on enhancing their profitability and growing their institutions.

Given the premium placed on time in today's fast-paced financial-services industry, we believe it's important for our members to realize that a small investment in time up front with one of our staff may open unexpected doors for their institutions in the future.

You'd be surprised how a one-hour meeting with one of our relationship managers may be exactly what your institution needs to generate new ideas and move in a positive direction.

Joseph M. Vinard, president and CEO of Chelsea-Provident Co-operative Bank in Chelsea, Massachusetts, meets in his office with Steve McHugh, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston's relationship manager for the Boston area.

Our members know that the two staple products of the Bank are advances and the Mortgage Partnership Finance® (MPF®) program, but they may not be aware of the many educational services we offer to complement those important funding services. They also may not realize how effective our housing program can be in getting them involved in their communities.

Since rejoining the Bank last year, I've been reminded once again of the talent and resources available here. The Bank's four relationship managers have broad experience in the financial-services industry. Most of us have held CFO-type positions and know the issues facing management. We've developed an array of ideas on how our members can profitably use Bank products — and we're eager to share those ideas with them. Moreover, we're constantly out in the field, so we know what our members are doing.

A key part of what we do involves working with members to develop custom funding strategies to improve their profitability. We also have experts in our Housing and Community Investment Department who have great ideas for members who want to get involved in community investment.

Just yesterday I was at a member institution, and their question for me was, "How can you help us?" They said, "We want to get involved in our community more than we have been. There are many old mills in our area and some have been converted to housing. We see this as a great investment opportunity and want to participate, but we're not sure how to go about doing it."

Accompanying me on that member visit were Ken Willis and Rod Peterson of our Housing and Community Investment Department. That session took only an hour, but in that hour we provided the member with comprehensive information on our Affordable Housing Program and Community Development advance — two critical tools for helping members expand their participation in the community.

I think those bankers genuinely felt enlightened by the end of that session. During our discussions, I could see them looking at each other and thinkin,: "I wish we had done this a long time ago; I didn't know these resources were available."

Remember, our relationship managers, community investment managers, and MPF representatives all pay personal visits to our members. Our MPF staff have years of professional experience and are experts in the mortgage field.

You'd be surprised how much you can learn in a very short time. A one-hour visit from our staff may be exactly what your institution needs to help it grow and move in a productive direction.

For more information about Bank products and services, please contact me at 617-292-9762, or call John Baity at 617-292-9710; David Birkins at 617-292-9617; or Steve McHugh at 617-292-9616.

Paul M. Peduto is first vice president / sales and business development at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston.

"Mortgage Partnership Finance" and "MPF" are registered trademarks of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.