Recession survivors passed stress test, bank leader says

George W. Smith doesn't mind working two jobs. As the president of Bank of America - Nevada, Smith spends part of his week overseeing 5,000 employees, $1.7 million in annual charitable donations and a commercial loan portfolio that's still recovering from the recession.

When he's not overseeing the bank's operations, he's traveling across the country in his role as national business banking executive for Bank of America.

Smith said the business banking division, with $1.5 billion in annual revenues and 750 employees, works with companies with $3 million to $20 million in annual sales.

"I'm in charge of our team around the country that delivers loan products to the companies," he said. "We have 45,000 clients nationwide. Add them all up and it's almost $20 billion in loans and $27 billion in deposits."

Smith said he spends most of his time as national executive on the road meeting with staff and clients.

He serves on the board of directors for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Foundation and the Nevada Development Authority.

Smith also serves on advisory boards for Lied Discover Children's Museum, Special Olympics of Southern Nevada and Boy Scouts Las Vegas Area Council.

Question: What are you're responsibilities as president of Bank of America - Nevada?

Answer: I'm the senior executive for the bank here in Nevada. My job is to oversee the operations in the state, including making sure (that) we have branches in the right spots and making sure the loan volume is there. I'm also responsible for about $1.7 million in charitable giving annually.

Question: What's the right number for commercial loan volume?

Answer: Our No. 1 priority is picking the right client. Right now times are tough in Las Vegas, so you are a little more selective in trying to find the right client. We are not so focused on the right number in terms of loan volume, but we are focused on the right client.

Question: Who are the right clients? And are they all based in Las Vegas?

Answer: We are looking for a quality financial team, a quality capital base and a good business model. If they are all in Las Vegas that's fine. Most of our clients are focused just on the Las Vegas market and we are fine with that. We have a good track record in a lot of industries here.

Question: You were recently promoted to national business bank executive can you describe your new position?

Answer: I spend most of my time on my new job. I'm in charge of our business bank, which is all company loans, no loans to individuals. Companies we loan to for the most part have between $3 million and $20 million in sales annually. Now in Los Angeles and New York those might go to $50 million in sales. I oversee our team around the country that delivers loan products to our 45,000 clients in our footprint around the country. Add them all up it's almost $20 billion in loans and $27 billion in deposits. It's about $1.5 billion in revenue for us.

Question: Why be based in Las Vegas?

Answer: I worked in Los Angeles for a long time. I wanted a better place to raise my family. I had two young daughters at the time. So I thought there wasn't a better place to raise them than here in Las Vegas. With my last two jobs, I could have left easily. I have an office with Bank of America in Los Angeles, but I choose to stay here.

Question: How did the recession affect Bank of America, especially its commercial lending division?

Answer: When the recession first happened, it happened very quickly so you had to act fast, I think the good news now is (that) our clients that have survived this economic problem have survived a pretty strenuous stress test. I'm optimistic about those clients. They have come through with a strong capital base and a good management team; they've adjusted. So we are more bullish now than we were a year ago. They are more bullish because time has past and they've survived.

Question: Are you still working to get bad commercial loans off the books, or have you worked to clear them off your books?

Answer: We have worked though the majority of our commercial real estate issues.

Question: Should Las Vegas and Clark County consider a moratorium on commercial building or demolish some of the vacant properties to adjust the market?

Answer: I believe in efficient markets. I believe if someone wants to build a commercial property today, they better have a good business model (and) a good structure. And they better have a good reason. I would think most people aren't going to go out and build something new on a commercial basis in Las Vegas until the absorption rates improve, which translates into more vacant space being leased.

Question: What are your expectations for the Las Vegas economy?

Answer: I think we have a long, slow climb back. It appears we've kind of bottomed out, but I don't expect any quick fix.

Question: You are on a number of boards in Las Vegas. What is your relationship with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas?

Answer: I'm on the UNLV Foundation board and our job is to fund-raise for the university and kind of manage those dollars we raise. If you look at it logically, the amount of funding from the state has decreased over the years. So our job has become more important. It's wonderful to walk around campus and see all the buildings that we privately financed. We can't have a great city without a great university. I'm trying to make UNLV as strong as it can be to help pull Las Vegas out of its doldrums.

Question: How successful has the board been in fundraising?

Answer: We just had a $500 million campaign that was successful. We actually finished ahead of time. Walk around campus and there are probably 20 buildings that have been funded on the last 10 years by private donors. We were growing so big that we needed more buildings. Now that the economy has changed we are looking at funding department chairs. We are even looking to help fund the university's budget gap.

Question: What is role with the Nevada Development Authority?

Answer: I'm on the board of directors. The (authority's) job is economic development for the Las Vegas region. So we don't care where the company comes to, it could be Las Vegas, Henderson or Boulder City. We want companies that bring jobs here and that pay an above-average wage. I believe the better Las Vegas does, the better it is for me, my clients, my employees and eventually the bank itself.

Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at csieroty@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.