More Than a Commercial Lender, Meet Gloria Williams, Your Personal Banker, and Community Connection
For 15 years, our Commercial Lender, Gloria Mazzella Williams and her husband, Matt, owned their own personal business, Under Boats, Inc., a commercial diving and marine salvage company in Gloucester, VA. As young aspiring entrepreneurs, they found themselves like many other business owners, needing a commercial loan to get through the early years of establishing their business.
Thankfully, they had a lender that took the time to understand their situation. With good credit, employment history, and other details in place, the loan was approved, and they were able to follow their passions, growing their business until its sale in 2022. Over the years, they feel lucky to have had a lending relationship with Chesapeake Bank. Gloria said those positive experiences, coupled with Chesapeake Bank’s reputation for community service, drew her to Chesapeake Bank last year when she joined our lending team serving the Middle Peninsula.
To many, Gloria is already known from her previous roles as Community Engagement and Public Information Manager for Gloucester County and Executive Director of the Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce. With her thumb still on the pulse of the community, she reports that her new role will take her a step further in meeting the needs of businesses and organizations in the community she loves so much.
“At the Chamber, we were at the grand openings, the first anniversary, then the fifth, and we often helped businesses between each of those milestones with day-to-day guidance, programs, and support,” says Gloria. “My role here is similar. In lending, we get to work with business owners to see the whole picture—serving as advisors guiding the vision when needed, and then, hopefully, funding the dreams.”
Gloria loves meeting people, learning about their passions, how they got where they are, and where they want to go. You might already know no two businesses are alike, but she finds it fascinating to see them on paper. They’re all structured differently; one business might be a sole proprietorship and another a limited liability; one business will file personal/business tax returns together, while another keeps everything separate. As you can imagine, they all have different needs as well. “Some are considering acquisition or expansion, while others need equipment, a line of credit, or have a rental property,” she explains. “It’s important to understand each unique setup and the nuances between them.”
For the success of your business, it’s never too early to talk to your lender and personal banker.
If you know Gloria, you know relationships are important to her both professionally and personally. However, in business, relationships are even more critical to a company’s success, and it is never too early to talk to your lender to tell them about your plans. Being organized and having a business plan are important, too. With the right documentation, our lending team can often see that an idea is more doable than the client thought; or if not, they can offer specific guidance to get you where you need to be.
As Gloria says, “Commercial Lending is here to write loans, but even more so, at Chesapeake, we’re here for the whole relationship - personal banker and a conduit to other resources in your community.” We go beyond banking because we love to see plans come to fruition.