Spotlight On: George Destafney, Executive Vice President & Regional President – New Jersey, OceanFirst Bank
August 2025 — In an interview with Invest:, George Destafney, chief community banking officer of OceanFirst Bank, discussed the bank’s resilience amid economic shifts. “We’re optimistic, growing with investments in lending, deposits, technology, and a new Perth Amboy branch.”
What changes over the past year have had the greatest impact on OceanFirst Bank in New Jersey, and in what ways?
Two factors have had the most impact: internal and external. The shift of leadership in January in Washington, D.C. has clients analyzing tariff policies, tax policies, and business responses, keeping dry powder or pulling forward inventory purchases. Tax policy affects hiring and capital investment. Externally, these issues have a pronounced impact on decision-making for our consumer and business clients. Internally, at OceanFirst, we’re optimistic, growing with investments in lending, deposits, technology, and a new Perth Amboy branch, following a branch added last year in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, boosting retail growth.
How would you compare New Jersey’s banking sector to that in other states, and what role does OceanFirst play?
Every banker in every part of the country would say it is a competitive market. Factually, data in New Jersey proves that out. It’s a competitive landscape for the banking industry. In New Jersey, every size competitor exists: small, challenger-type, newer community banks, fintech companies entering the market, and major global banks. That level of competition is healthy, providing customers and clients options and opportunities, creating a healthy banking environment.
Banks are also good corporate citizens, contributing to the communities we live in and serve, with people volunteering, for example. At OceanFirst, we select a day every year in the Fall, closing the bank for the afternoon, and sending our workforce to volunteer. That’s the type of contribution banks make.
The second part is where we fit in the banking sector. OceanFirst is a regionalized community bank serving from Boston to greater Washington D.C. with a robust retail network covering 90 million people. Yet, we are nimble enough to execute in those spaces. We are competitive with larger banks, but we deliver a locally grown community bank experience in all the markets we serve.
How have the bank’s collaborations with fintech companies evolved?
When you look at fintech partnerships, fintechs used to be challengers in the market for banks. Now, we look at fintechs as partners. Banks have infrastructure and resources that help fintechs. We’ve expanded our partnerships with fintech, maintaining prolific relationships with Blend and NestEgg, and adding more. We’ve added partnerships on our small-business front-end application, collaborating with fintechs to deliver quickly, responsibly, and thoughtfully in the small-business space. This is impactful, enabling delivery to our business bank clients at that rate and speed, while also allowing people to talk to industry professionals. It’s a great combination of technology and people.
Which sectors or industries are driving the strongest demand for financing?
I wouldn’t point to a specific industry. There are pockets of the state with outsized growth. A great example is southern New Jersey, where industrial space expansion ties to port activity. The Port of Bayonne expansion shows similar growth in North Jersey. Coastal markets have held up remarkably well for the tourist industry, a consistent performer for years. At the beginning of the summer, we talked to seasonal operators who report that hotel rates remain as high as in prior years. Bookings are strong, though slightly delayed this year. Those sectors seem to hold up well.
How is OceanFirst leveraging new technologies and AI to analyze markets and enhance customer experience for greater operational efficiency?
We’re using technology to make better, thoughtful, and quicker decisions. With that, we deliver quicker, better products. It allows us to see client activities and follow customer behaviors. It allows us to see trends; we see how customers want to interact with their bank, where they want to go, and we respond accordingly. We can invest in technology for call centers, chat, and chatbots. People use it, like it, and prefer that service. We follow what our customers want and use, and make investments accordingly.
How has OceanFirst strengthened its resilience against cyber threats?
When you look at required investments, it’s all around technology. Cybersecurity is a given, with protecting customers’ data a huge priority, and substantial investments there. This generally leads to discussions about banks interacting with technologies like blockchain or Bitcoin. As the legislative landscape offers clarity to better execute, we will enhance our efforts for clients who are looking at these options. Currently, banks are tentative, avoiding deep involvement since the rules aren’t fully laid out. As transparency increases and we understand our regulatory body’s direction, that will allow us to do more.
Looking ahead, what growth opportunities do you see, and what are OceanFirst’s key priorities for the next three to five years?
There’s a ton of room for growth in and around New Jersey and the greater New Jersey market. I look at OceanFirst in the broader footprint of the total franchise and markets served, which are some of the best markets in the world. We have access to 90 million people in this region. Priorities include heavy investment in people to serve the commercial community, seeing real opportunity in the commercial and industrial space. We’ve invested substantially in our premier banking deposit and customer relationship initiative, offering this white-glove service to larger clients. We’ve invested in our business banking platform for technology and execution, and we’ve also invested in brick and mortar, where appropriate, as there’s still a need. The market is deep, with clients at every business level planning expansion, though pausing in some cases at this juncture due to uncertainty during the first half of 2025. Uncertainty is a front-runner issue, but workforce and capital for equipment, plant, and factory remain key, indicating continued expansion planning. Balance sheets and profits are healthy, making it a good environment in New Jersey.
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