By María Eugenia Guerra

"I'm on the front end now, where customer service counts," said longtime banker John Puig, president of the recently opened First National Bank, with a temporary location at 120 West Village Blvd., Suite 113, that represents the kernel of FNB's plan to open three Laredo sites.
With native Laredoan Puig at the helm, the Edinburg-based FNB will open branches at Calle del Norte and McPherson, Guadalupe and Malinche in the Heights, and the IH-35 feeder road just north of Mann Road. The Laredo locations add to the 28-branch organization FNB operates throughout the South Texas Valley and Corpus Christi. Additional expansion is in the works for San Antonio and Austin.
"This is not growth from buying banks. It has been an internal effort to build new banks and make loans and grow," Puig said of FNB's $1.4 billion growth trajectory that has its roots in South Texas farming. "Four years ago that number was $500 million," Puig said.
"Our new banks are opened by a resource team, so there's not a strain on an existing branch," Puig said, adding, "We leased this space on a Friday and on Monday the resource team was here and three weeks later we had it up and running bank. With the amount of technical support behind us, we do not need a big staff. The bank is entirely imaged -- there's a minimum of paper involved."
Same day funding for loans and the best CD rate in town have kept Puig and his staff busy since their November opening. "Title companies are very surprised that we work as quickly as we do," Puig said. "Family, friends, and others I've known throughout my career in banking have done a good job finding us and telling others about our good service. We treat everyone like we want their business because we do. Our job is to make loans. Loans are our product," he continued.
"I grew up in banking in commercial lending and then went to mortgage lending. A home loan is a very personal loan and you have to understand that. I do business from a personal side. Numbers are the cold part, but you have to understand what they are asking you for," Puig said.
"I had two mentors in banking," Puig said. "One was Ramiro Sanchez and the other was Max Mandel. Both taught me to treat people the way you would want to be treated. If he had to turn down a loan, Mr. Mandel could do this and still have a friend at the other end of the proposition. He would tell them what they needed to come back with to re-visit the loan."
In addition to Puig, the FNB staff in Laredo includes loan secretary Irma Peña, Carmina Butler in new accounts, and teller supervisor Claudia Quiros.
"They all have a background in banking and customer service. I was looking for staff members who had experience, an immediate smile, good communication skills, truthfulness, and a belief in a higher being. If your priorities in life are set right, you are going to serve, not just in your life but in your job." Puig said.
Construction on the first full service FNB location will begin in January at Calle del Norte and McPherson. "Building a bank isn't just a matter of steel and concrete," Puig said, adding, "We are also building a good foundation of customers, some of whom are getting to know us through the excellent CD rate we are offering -- currently 3 percent on a deposit of less than $100,000 or less; 3.25 percent on a deposit of over $100,000, both for 18-month terms."
John Puig is a 1964 graduate of Martin High School and a 1968 graduate of the University of Notre Dame. He earned a master’s degree from Laredo State University in 1974. A Vietnam veteran, Puig is married to Ana Alicia Esparza Puig and they have five children -- John II, a physician; Jeffrey, a civil engineer; Valerie, an accountant; Virginia, a technical school counselor; and Jacob, the manager of a restaurant.