CHICAGO: With two Masters from highly reputed educational institutions in this country under his belt, Chandrakant Patel has also proved to be a no-nonsense businessman shining of late as the rising star in banking firmament.
Chandrakant, known more as Chen, had founded Sate Bank of Texas (SBT) in Dallas with a group of investors
bringing in all $2 million as seed capital for starting a financial institution. This was in 1987 and the day was Black Monday that saw a crash at the Wall Street. This was not a deterrent but a challenge and Chen groomed the new baby so well that it is now ranked as the top performer among 4600 banks in the country.
The survey was conducted by Sageworks, an independent financial information agency that surveyed banks with assets ranging from $10 million to $ 1 billion.
This well managed bank has also taken care of investors handsomely distributing over $80 milion as dividend and still carrying sizeable assets to its credit. Impressed with its excellent track record, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was favorably disposed to SBT taking over another bank – the $86 million asset Millennium Bank in Texas that ran into problem some three years ago. The Chen Patel management helped change the fortune of Millennium Bank which is now part of SBT.
The Bank added yet another feather in its growing cap of achievements by taking over a Chicago bank, National Republic Bank of Chicago, that was run by yet another Gujarati businessman , Hiren Patel, The Bank ran into problems over some bad loans and FDIC had to step in to protect the interest of depositors and investors.
SBT was one of the suitors and FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Chen Patel controlled State Bank of Dallas. The nearly billion dollar asset Chicago bank is now part of SBT and this has pushed the Chen Patel contoured bank into the august company of banks with over $ one billion asset.
In a talk to this paper, Chen Patel said that there would be some streamlining of the operations at the newly acquired bank but exuded confidence that “my team would turn it into a profitable venture.” He was confident that there would not be a serious problem in sharply cutting down bad loans which are to a great extent with the hospitality industry interests. Before turning leaf as a banker, Chen Patel was a motel owner and at one time owned close to 15 small and big motels in Texas.
Chen said there would be some overhauling of the staff with some trimming but by and large the new management would sail with the present team. The bank would be run most professionally and Chen will be assisted by his two experienced and academically qualified sons – Rajan Patel and Sushil Patel
Born n in Bombay, India, in 1945, Chan Patel is an example of the American Dream personified. He grew up in a 5 x 8 room in the Dadar area of Mumbai, with four siblings and his parents. He was bright in his studies and earned his Bachelor’s degree in science with top honors from the top most Mumbai College, Elphinstone College. As a result of his dedication, he was accepted by some of the finest graduate institutions in America, including M.I.T, Columbia, and Stanford. In 1965 with $600, he came to America to attend Stanford University.
After earning Masters degrees from both Stanford and John’s Hopkins University, Chan took a job as a programmer with Braniff Airlines; a job that brought him to Dallas, Texas where he would spend the rest of his life making his mark. In 1976 Chan bought his first hotel.
His dedication and commitment to his work started paying him huge dividend. His motel helped earn him money and he stopped working with Braniff; turning into a full time hotelier. His vision and commitment to work again came in good stead for him and he was a front runner in the hotel industry in his area owning a total of 17 hotels.
In his journey to become a hotel owner, he learned that many of his fellow immigrants found it difficult to get a loan due to some technicalities and also inadequate grasping of the formal requirements. And a dream was born – to start a bank for the people and of the people around him.
The dream execution was not easy. He needed $2 million as capital. With Chan willing to invest $1 million himself, he approached other local Indian businessmen and professionals to invest by buying shares at the $10 each.
With banking being such a new venture, he approached several family members and friends to invest $100,000 each. In exchange, he promised that each of them would become a professional banker and be Director of the bank. With this novel approach, he was able to raise the remaining $1 million within two weeks. On October 19, 1987, Black Monday (the day the stock market crashed), Chan Patel began the State Bank of Texas with a single paid employee.
From the second quarter of the opening to this day, State Bank of Texas has not reported any operating losses in any quarter since its existence. The same trend continues and SBT has been turning a new leaf every year.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
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