Brett Silvers has been described as a leader and a visionary.

His work over the past 12 years as chair and CEO of Hartford-based First International Bank and chair, president and CEO of its publicly traded parent company First International Bancorp Inc., has shown how a vision can be translated into a successful international business.

"When I joined the [First International] bank in 1988, I perceived a core market opportunity," the 45-year-old Long Island native recalled. "I saw that small industrial companies around the world were becoming more sophisticated, undergoing generational changes with sons and daughters taking over businesses that their fathers and grandfathers started and breathing new life into them. I wanted to plug these businesses into the global marketplace."

According to Silvers, at that time small- to mid-sized, family-owned industrial companies in the U.S. and emerging international markets were being underserved by other financial institutions.

"The larger financial institutions weren’t focused on providing sophisticated loan products to small industrial businesses, while smaller local banks often didn’t have the resources or expertise needed to help these companies become competitive in the global marketplace," Silvers explained.

So he proposed a global strategy to the board and major investors for what was then a small four-branch community bank. That group included the Chase family, who has owned approximately 50 percent of the company since 1970.

"I’m very fortunate to have become involved with the Chases," Silvers said. "They had control of this small community bank and when I came aboard they were looking for someone to develop a strategy for it. The Chases were already very large domestic and international investors, so when I brought this strategy to them and the board they endorsed it immediately. They’ve been very strong supporters of what we’ve executed and built here."

"Brett is one of the most capable people I’ve ever met in my life," Chase Enterprises Chair David Chase said of Silvers. "He’s very focused, extremely knowledgeable and a leader. He’s a visionary and is way ahead of the curve in everything he does."

Part of Silvers’ vision came from his background. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in law and diplomacy, Silvers had contemplated a career in diplomatic service. But a strong recruitment push in the late 1970s by banks and oil companies made him change his mind.

"That was the first time the major banks were looking for people with international backgrounds," Silvers explained. "Before that, banking was seen as kind of a sleepy industry with a limited upside. A number of my fellow Fletcher [School of Law and Diplomacy] graduates went into banking, as well."

In the seven years before joining First International Bank, Silvers held an array of positions in the banking realm, including international economist performing country risk analysis and economic forecasting, lending officer for middle market and large corporate lending, and chief lending officer at a small community bank. This diverse background gave Silvers the expertise needed to create the business niche realized today at First International Bank.

"My experience is relatively unusual and explains a lot of the strategy that you see today," he said. "Obviously it came together very nicely here."

This focus on the small industrial sector, with a heavy emphasis on manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors, makes First International Bank unique. In many respects, First International Bank has become the first global small business lender. Since Silvers has taken the helm, the bank, which as chartered on July 13, 1955, has grown from four branches and 50 employees to approximately 220 employees in 15 U.S. offices, with 50 additional representatives in 14 international markets.

That growth has been facilitated, in part, by the use of the three main federal loan guarantee programs – the U.S. Small Business Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. First International Bank is the largest combined user of these programs in the country. These programs allow the bank to offer loans to its niche market at much better terms than a regular loan, since the government shares some of the risk.

Recently, First International Bank expanded its geographical reach by becoming the first ever non-Mexican financial institution to be granted delegated authority for small business lending by Nacional Financiera, or NAFIN, Mexico’s equivalent to the SBA. According to Silvers, this is revolutionary, because until recently the Mexican financial system was very closed.

"It speaks to our reputation in the U.S.," he pointed out.

"Plus, we have an advantage over the program’s 14 participating Mexican banks – we lend in dollars. Mexican banks can lend in dollars, but it is much more costly for them to do so. It also puts more U.S. dollars into the Mexican economy."

Silvers calls the NAFIN relationship "an interesting hint of things to come," saying First International Bank will pursue approval in the other developed countries with government guarantee programs, including Germany, the U.K. and Canada.

First International has also extended its reach in the New Economy. By partnering with Internet exchanges, places where small businesses from all over the world come together to buy and sell industrial products, the bank has become the first multi-product, multi-country small business lender.

"We’re the perfect solution for these exchanges," Silvers commented. "We’ve taken all the products we already offer – export financing, lines of credit and equipment financing – and offered them directly to our niche, small industrial businesses."

The customers can apply for financing by clicking a button on the industry exchange site to access the bank’s ThruCredit® system. This online commercial and international financing differs from what competitors offer, in that it can be used for larger transactions ranging from $100,000 to $5 million. Competitors usually offer loan amounts under $100,000 based on personal financial information rather than corporate financial information, on which First International Bank’s system is based.

All these leaps forward have been realized under Silvers’ leadership. He has been unusually busy lately, spending more than 30 percent of his time away from the office. He even had to juggle his schedule to be interviewed as Business Person of the Year, postponing a dentist appointment to replace a temporary crown.

Silvers said his time is divided into three main areas – interacting with his people domestically and overseas; developing strategic alliances and building partnerships; and strategic planning, administrative matters and capital market matters. Also, he tries to visit all of the company’s offices at least once a year.

Given the demands of his job, Silvers has had to ration his extra time, serving mostly on boards that support the bank’s business activities. The exception is his new position on the University of Hartford’s board of trustees. Silvers hopes to become more active with other community organizations in the future, to complement his already generous monetary contributions to local and nationwide organizations "I’m looking forward to the opportunity [to serve on the University of Hartford board of trustees] and hope I’ll have time to get more active over the next 12 months," he said.

But his connection with UofH doesn’t end there. First International Bank currently recruits very actively from UofH informally, but is in the process of developing a more formal alliance with the university. The bank is building an in-house credit training program that will specifically recruit UofH graduates, both undergraduates and MBAs, and offer them career opportunities in the organization, both in the U.S. and overseas. The program will be similar to what major American banks like Chase Manhattan and Citibank do with schools like Harvard Business and Stanford Business. The time frame for implementation is the first quarter of 2001.

In a similar fashion, First International Bank makes an effort to hire active reservists and guardsmen. Silvers takes great pride in his efforts to provide employees with international career opportunities and said he will continue to grow the company, in part, to continue expanding those opportunities.

Hartford will be part of that continued growth, according to Silvers. He is frustrated with the notion some people have of Hartford as an intellectual and professional backwater.

"The whole notion is nonsense," Silvers asserted. "There are extraordinarily talented people in this area who are motivated and intelligent. People who want to do and create can, and are, doing it here."

Silvers is impressed with many people in the Hartford area, including UofH President Walter Harrison and Silvers’ West Hartford neighbor Bill Stone, chair and CEO of SS&C Technologies – a successful publicly traded software business based in Windsor.

"We are living proof that it is possible to build a state-of-the-art international business that’s headquartered in Hartford, and there’s no reason why we can’t continue to thrive here and that others cannot build similar internationally oriented or high-tech businesses here," he added.

Silvers hopes his company will act as a role model and influence others as his personal role models have done for him.

He cites several, both personal and historical. First and foremost are his parents: "They always insisted I stand up for what I believe and never get discouraged." The next is David Chase, his bank partner of almost 13 years: "He’s an absolute role model because of the extraordinarily successful business career he has built with a great deal of integrity and generosity."

Pictures of his two historical role models hang in his office – Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic and its first president ("He transformed a backward country into a Western country in the 1920s") and Robert Moses, the master builder of public works in New York from 1920 to 1960 ("I’ve always looked to him for inspiration as a builder, in my case as the builder of a company.")

In his leisure, Silvers is a role model to young West Hartford soccer players, having coached on the town-level for several years.

"I love it," he exclaimed. It also gives him time with his family, wife Nancy and daughters Rebecca and Claudia.

"A lot of my time is family-oriented time with the kids," he said.

On a personal level, he tries to get to the gym a couple times a week, enjoys reading and said in the past he has been a bad golf, tennis and hockey player. He also has been known on occasion to sing American standards, but "only in the hallway or in the shower," he admitted.

For Silvers, the accolades, like being named Export-Import Bank’s top lender based on the number of loan transactions for the fourth consecutive year, is not as important as what his company accomplishes.

"What we do really makes a difference. Providing financing and financial support for family-owned businesses to get into the global marketplace and thrive is not just good for this organization. I believe what we do is for the social good. It’s more than just a niche; it’s a mission."n