By Mary Kirker

After 30 years in the banking industry, Tom Chesney quit working for others to open Flatirons Bank. After first gathering $5 million in capital from investors, Chesney has opened the new bank in Gunbarrel at 5400 Mt. Meeker. 

When asked about the name, Chesney said, "It was by default. We had come up with another name earlier but a few people in our organizational group didn’t like it." After going through the lengthy approval process and narrowing down possible names to three, "I just told the attorney to use ‘FlatIrons Bank’ and that’s the one we wound up with," Chesney explained, "and it kind of stuck."

Banks are chartered either by the state or by the national commission. "If you have a national charter, you’ll either have the name ‘National’ in the title or the letters ‘NA’. If you’re a state bank, you won’t," he explained

The names of national banks, like Community First National Bank, are approved by the controller of the currency in the federal government and don’t have individual state approval. Instead, these banks are required to be a member of the Federal Reserve System and are always Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured.

Chesney said that each state bank is regulated by the state in which it is chartered. If a state bank carries FDIC insurance, then it will be regulated by FDIC rules. Bank owners could also elect to make the bank a member of the Federal Reserve System. The three federal supervisory agencies for banks are the controller of the currency, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC.

Regarding the Colorado state bank application, "We got our approval from them in April," continued Chesney, "and one more requirement is that we have to get the FDIC insurance, so we have our application in now for that and expect to have that soon." The application was resubmitted for the second time in June, though the FDIC has not yet responded. A grand opening is planned tentatively for October.

FlatIrons Bank is licensed as a community commercial bank. Commercial refers to having the broadest range of banking power. Chesney said, "Typically, you talk about community banks as being locally owned and operated as opposed to national." FlatIrons Bank is organized to do all types of loans, and service is focused locally in Gunbarrel, Niwot and Boulder County.

"The biggest thing that we’re going to try to focus on in banking … is taking care of the clientele in the community here that we want to serve," Chesney stated. "We’re a very people oriented, face-to-face kind of operation." Hours of operation are proposed to be from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and Saturday mornings."

Chesney began working in the banking industry as a teller during college. He attended college at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1969 and graduated with a degree in business, majoring in organizational behavior and acquiring a strong accounting background as well. He earned an MBA from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. He has worked his way up the ladder to senior vice president and relationship manager for Compass Bank in Gunbarrel.  Upon resigning from that position in March this year, he began planning the new bank. He lived in Boulder until four years ago when he and his wife moved near Loveland. 

Over the years, Chesney has been a member of the Rotary Club and Kiwanis Club. He has been involved with Junior Achievement and Boy Scouts as well. As a board member of the YMCA, he has served both in Boulder and Longmont.

Services at the new FlatIrons Bank will include checking, savings and money market accounts. Safe deposit boxes, loans, credit cards and debits cards will also be available. 

For more information call 720-890-4026.

Photo by Mary Kirker

Tom Chesney, president and chief executive officer of FlatIrons Bank.