With a ‘Business is great’ mantra, an irrepressible banker is back

Colleen Kvetko Colleen Kvetko’s feet hurt, and she couldn’t be happier.

“The heels and business suit are back on, and let me tell you, my feet are killing me,” says Ms. Kvetko, whose long banking career has led her to become president, CEO and founding director of Florida Shores Bank- Gulfcoast. “It’s wonderful.”

It’s not that the 55-year-old Ms. Kvetko necessarily relishes the concept of aching extremities, but the discomfort brought on by a steady diet of functions requiring appropriate business attire is proof positive that she’s back and running in high gear in the industry that has been her professional home for nearly four decades. Gone are the leisurely days of an early retirement — days in which she could be found in casual clothing and sneakers.

In 2005, to the shock of many in the industry, she abruptly retired from Fifth Third Bank at what appeared to be the apogee of her career. A year earlier, U.S. Banker had named her the “Fifth Most Powerful Woman in Banking.”

That she attracted such attention was understandable. She’s a woman of effervescent personality who has not only survived but thrived in the often stodgy and decidedly masculine world of banking.

She had been president, CEO and chairwoman of Fifth Third’s South Florida operations from 1992 until early in 2005, when Kevin Hale was named president and Ms. Kvetko shifted to business development.

In an interview shortly after her retirement was announced, she explained her decision thusly: “My bank agreed to buy another bank… and I knew my role would change. I promised myself if I didn’t love coming to work every day, I was out of there.”

The retirement proved to be short lived, however. She returned to Fifth Third less than a year later to help with expansion plans in South Florida, and remained in that capacity until mid-2008.

This past January, she took another unexpected leap, this time to Florida Shores Bank, where she became a founding director and was named president of Florida Gulf Shores-Naples. Florida Shores recently announced it has acquired controlling interest in Shamrock Bank of Florida, with $70 million in assets and locations in Naples and Everglades City. Once the acquisition receives regulatory approval, Shamrock will operate under the name of Florida Shores-Gulfcoast.

Ms. Kvetko began her banking career as a teller at the age of 16 in her hometown of Cleveland. She spent more than two decades with Fifth Third, coming to Naples from Cincinnati in 1992 to head the bank’s operations here. Under her leadership, Fifth Third’s Florida operations grew from $1 million in assets in 1992 to $1.1 billion in 2005. In essence, she built the bank from the ground up.

Assuming the position in Florida represented a gigantic gamble for Ms. Kvetko and her husband, Kirk, who held a significant job with FedEx. There was no comparable position available for Mr. Kvetko in Florida at the time, so he accepted a seven-level demotion in order to accompany his wife to Naples. He has since retired from FedEx and now is COO of an insurance firm.

Ms. Kvetko says she knew she could make a go of it in Naples after a brief factfinding visit in 1992. “I came down and went to a number of banks,” she recalls. “I walked in wearing shorts and a T-shirt, very casual, very low key. No one at any of the banks asked if they could help me. No one. I called Kirk and told him I couldn’t screw this up if I tried.”

Insisting she doesn’t miss the days of big banking, she speaks passionately about community banking.

“Community banking comes down to this: knowing your customers,” she says. “It’s really understanding the total individual. It’s making the local decision when someone comes in and wants a loan to buy a business, for example. The cash flow has to be there, of course, because cash is still king. But the character of the person wanting that loan is just as important. You can’t get to know someone that well in a big institution.”

Over and above knowing your customers, she adds, community banking means being involved in the community.

She has maintained an active presence in Naples, serving on a variety of boards, including the YMCA of Collier County, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and The United Way of Collier County. An avowed animal lover, she is an enthusiastic supporter of PAWS for Love, which helps train and place dogs for therapeutic purposes.

While Ms. Kvetko’s enthusiasm for this new phase of her career is palpable, she says retirement did have its perks. She and Kirk — they were high-school sweethearts in Cleveland — spent more time at their Park City, Utah, condominium, and had more opportunities to indulge their passions for the outdoors and hiking. And there was also time for golf. “I still play some golf, but almost all of it now is business related,” she says.

Despite the recent problems in the banking industry, Ms. Kvetko is convinced that better days lie ahead. “That’s not to say these aren’t tough times, but we’ll get through it.”

Her ambition to succeed was not diminished in the least by her brief sabbatical. Reflecting on her selection as the nation’s fifth most powerful woman banker a mere five years back, she laughingly says: “Now that I’m back in the game, I find myself thinking that I could get to be No. 1 in about 10 years, if I’m lucky.”

As a symbol of her confidence, she’s dusting off a signature gold pin that she wore during the high-flying times. This trademark piece of jewelry says: BUSINESS IS GREAT.

The pin is back, and the feet are hurting. Colleen Kvetko is ready for business. 