Brandi Vitier, Market President – San Antonio, Texas Partners Bank
As a growing region, San Antonio continues to attract business, people, and new industries, all of which rely on the banking sector to take care of their banking needs. Community banks can provide a local edge and homegrown expertise, especially in a growing metro area. “As a community bank, we know and understand our clients,” Brandi Vitier, San Antonio market president of Texas Partners Bank, told Invest:. “We are engaged with them and customize our solutions based on their needs and opportunities.”
What key economic trends are impacting your clients most this year?
This year, it has been more about macroeconomic and political impacts. We have been communicating and guiding our clients closely about what they can do to navigate this environment, such as how the business environment is changing and what decisions will impact them.
What goes into guiding clients through economic challenges?
It is certainly a dynamic situation. It is a good time for all companies to do a thorough review of their expenses, evaluate how they can become more efficient, and think about how they can cut costs and alleviate future tariff disruptions and inflation pains. Companies should level up on decisions around people and make sure they have the right people in the right seats. This is a good time for people to sharpen their business sense. As a community bank, we know and understand our clients. This helps us understand the macro environmental risks. We know how our clients run their companies. We know what decisions they are seeking to make. We are engaged with them and customize our solutions based on their needs.
What industry sectors are showing the most demand for banking-related solutions?
Real estate is one. Central Texas, particularly the Austin to San Antonio corridor, is one of the major growth areas in the country. There have been a lot of real estate, retail, and office investments. Some of the bigger banks are not understanding the local growth as much, so there have been more opportunities for banks our size to be involved in those deals. We have also seen an uptick in commercial and industrial real estate. With the increased interest rates, which we hope continue to stabilize, it also poses a bit of a challenge. Clients, or banks, do not want to pay higher interest rates. Many people are in a wait-and-see mode to make sure projects are viable, sometimes even putting projects back on the shelf, bringing them back when it makes more sense. We have seen a couple of deals a couple of times before they actually close. There is a lot more thoughtfulness in the whole environment. We are lucky to be in Central Texas, as it is such a growth area.
How does being located in San Antonio provide advantages for your operations?
San Antonio has always been a large market. The region has always seen steady, albeit slower growth, but now it is experiencing a bit of a boom. We have many stalwart companies that have continued to remain in the region. With the expansion of our academic sector, younger people want to stay in the region. We must attract and keep talented individuals. This also complements the decision of companies to stay in the market.
What are the efforts to grow and develop the next generation of banking professionals?
Our advantage is that we are headquartered in San Antonio. We have partnerships with the local universities that we leverage to attract talent once they graduate. We have great internal mentoring and training programs for the different roles at the bank. We continually look at improving these programs. This has been a key part of our success, where many of the team members are well into their careers, and they have been with us since they graduated from college.
How do you see the local banking sector evolving in the near term?
We will continue to see the development of online banking resources. With our treasury management team, we continue to increase that side of the operations and grow with our clients. There may be less investment in brick-and-mortar buildings, and rather more investment in technology advancements and solutions.
