President and CEO Robert Horsman says his community-oriented institution will continue to thrive because customers ‘enjoy a relationship or partnership with their bank.’ (photo/alandeckerphoto.com)

For the last 25 years, Robert Horsman was there to lead San Diego National Bank past its milestones, past $1 billion in assets, past $2 billion, and past $2.41 billion at Sept. 30, when it was observing its 25th anniversary. By year-end, SDNB reached $2,453,016,000 in assets, not quite $2.5 billion, which would have been too perfectly poetic for its 25th year. Still, $98.1 million of average annual growth ain’t bad.

Looking ahead to the next 25 years, Horsman, SDNB president and CEO, predicts the community bank will endure.

“I think there will be fewer community banks,” he says, “but there will be need for them, because customers like responsiveness and recognition, and enjoy a relationship or partnership with their bank.”

SDNB plans to grow with the region, and is expanding its branch network into Santee, Poway, Hillcrest and Temecula in the coming year. As commerce is increasingly migrating to the Internet, are these branches necessary?

“Branches relate to gathering deposits,” Horsman says, “and in servicing the community. Our real interest is in having someone in the branches who lives and is involved in the community where the branch is located.”

And with all banks lamenting the lack of experienced lenders, where will SDNB find personnel? “It is hard to find bankers like we were,” he says. “But we do in-house training, and still we’re able to locate bankers who know the community. It’s getting harder, but we do find ’em.”

For its silver anniversary, Horsman says the bank hosted a breakfast under its whale mural for the four employees who have been with the bank from the beginning (Horsman is one), and for customers who have put their silver into the bank since it opened. Breakfast guests included Mayor Sanders.

“We tied our celebration into National Philanthropy Week,” Horsman says, “by giving three regional youth programs $500,000 each.” Included were the Monarch School, located a block from the bank, which educates homeless and at-risk students; the NTC Foundation, which is assembling an array of visual and performing arts, science and history organizations among 26 historic buildings at Liberty Station; and Star/Pal, which serves underprivileged youth in athletics and academics.