CBIA BizCast: Building Relationships with TD Bank’s Moroney

“If you like what you do and you like who you do it with, you don’t run away from happiness,” TD Bank’s Steve Moroney told the CBIA BizCast. 

Moroney has spent his entire 20-plus year career with the bank, including running the bank’s Westchester and Fairfield markets before being named market president for Connecticut and Rhode Island.

“I’ve always liked the culture,” he said. “I love the brand, I love the people.”

While he’s called Connecticut home since 2008, Moroney felt like he was starting over when he made the shift to New England. 

“The colleagues now that I have to lead, don’t know who I am,” he said. “My peers that I need to get things done and be successful do not know who I am. 

“And the market—I don’t know the customers. I don’t know the market. All of that is new.”

Building Relationships

Moroney said it was important for him to spend a lot of time getting to know his new team.

“It’s important for them to know that I’m someone that they want to follow,” he said. 

“So trying to be an empathetic leader, listening to them, finding out what’s working, finding out what’s not working.”

As he’s built relationships with businesses, Moroney said he’s gained a new appreciation for manufacturing in Connecticut, and the industry’s impact on the state economy. 

“You feel like you’re making more of an impact.”

Moroney

“It’s just a lot of fun as a banker to work with people and work with businesses that create things and build things,” he said. 

Moroney said it’s particularly rewarding to be able to help small and mid-sized businesses achieve their goals. 

“You feel like you’re making more of an impact,” he said. “That piece of equipment that you’re helping this company buy is really going to allow them to bring their business from good to great.

“And that’s and that’s pretty fun, and that’s pretty rewarding.”

Overcoming Challenges

Moroney said that many manufacturers in the state face similar challenges for their businesses’ success.

“I would say their concerns are all the same, which is mostly finding top talent, insurance costs, and energy costs.”

The 2024 Connecticut Manufacturing Report produced by CBIA and affiliates CONNSTEP and ReadyCT, and made possible with the support of RSM, highlighted many of those challenges.

A group of manufacturers discussed the report and how they overcome those challenges to capitalize on opportunities during the 2024 Manufacturing Summit Oct. 2 in Hartford.

“I think our legislators and our local politicians in the state are going to be motivated to try to fix that for our manufacturers, because they see what a big part of GDP manufacturing is,” Moroney said.

Shifting Landscape

Moroney also pointed to the shifting landscape surrounding interest rates as an important factor for manufacturers.

He said when interest rates started spiking in 2022, manufacturers took a close look at their margins and profits. 

“I think a lot of manufacturers and other businesses started saying, ‘Maybe we’re not going to invest in that piece of equipment, maybe we’re not going to make that acquisition, maybe we’re going to wait,’” he said. 

“Now it’s going to be a little more economical for them to do that.”

Moroney

As rates come down, Moroney said many manufacturers will be able to take advantage of the lower cost of capital. 

“There’s probably some equipment—old, last generation equipment that they probably want to replace with newer generation equipment,” he said. 

“Now it’s going to be a little more economical for them to do that.”

Growth Opportunities

Moroney said that as interest rates fall, TD Bank advises companies to be strategic about their opportunities to grow.

He said there are two key pieces that need to be in place before a company grows. 

“You want to make sure that you have the right talent for your growth,” he said. 

“Responsible growth and making sure you have the right talent is the key to the game.”

Moroney

“The leadership table that you have might have allowed you to be successful, to grow from this point, it may not be the right leadership table to get you to the next point.”

He said the second thing to consider is making sure companies are growing for the right reasons.

“Sometimes chasing this new business that I don’t have expertise in, I may not have the talent, I may not have the machinery, or I’m going to have to invest so much in machinery—if you don’t execute, it could really hurt your business,” he said.

“So I think responsible growth and making sure you have the right talent is the key to the game.”

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