Provident Bancorp, Inc. is a Massachusetts corporation that was formed in 2011
by The Provident Bank to be its holding company. The Company’s common
stock is quoted on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “PVBC.”
Approximately 53.0% of Provident Bancorp, Inc.’s outstanding shares are
owned by Provident Bancorp, a Massachusetts corporation and a mutual holding
company. Provident Bancorp, Inc. owns all of The Provident Bank’s capital
stock.
Provident Bancorp, Inc.’s executive offices are located at 5 Market Street,
Amesbury, Massachusetts 01913, and the telephone number is (978) 388-0050. Provident
Bancorp, Inc. is subject to comprehensive regulation and examination by the
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Massachusetts Commissioner
of Banks.
The Provident Bank is a community bank that has served the banking needs of
its customers since 1828. We are the tenth oldest financial institution in the
United States.
The Provident Bank is a Massachusetts-chartered stock savings bank that operates
from its main office and two branch offices in the Northeastern Massachusetts
area and four branch offices in Southeastern New Hampshire, and one branch in
located in Bedford, New Hampshire. We also have a loan production office in
Nashua, New Hampshire. Our primary lending area encompasses Northeastern Massachusetts
and Southern New Hampshire, with a focus on Essex County, Massachusetts, and
Hillsborough and Rockingham Counties, New Hampshire. Our primary deposit-gathering
area is currently concentrated in Essex County, Massachusetts, Rockingham County,
New Hampshire, and Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. We attract deposits from
the general public and use those funds to originate primarily loans, primarily
commercial real estate, construction and land development and commercial business
loans, and to invest in securities. In recent years, we have been successful
in growing both deposits and loans.
Loan originations come from a variety of sources. The primary sources of loan
originations are current customers, business development by our relationship
managers, walk-in traffic, our website, networking events and referrals from
customers as well as our directors, trustees and corporators, business owners,
investors, entrepreneurs, builders, realtors, and other professional third parties,
including brokers. Loan originations are further supported by lending services
offered through our internet website, cross-selling, and employees’ community
service.
We have legal authority to invest in various types of investment securities
and liquid assets, including U.S. Treasury obligations, securities of various
government-sponsored enterprises, residential mortgage-backed securities and
municipal governments, deposits at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, certificates
of deposit of federally insured institutions, investment grade corporate bonds
and investment grade marketable equity securities, including common stock and
money market mutual funds. We also are required to maintain an investment in
Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston stock, which investment is based on the level
of our Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings.
Deposits have traditionally been our primary source of funds for use in lending
and investment activities. We also use borrowings, primarily Federal Home Loan
Bank of Boston advances, brokered deposits and certificates of deposit obtained
from a national exchange, to supplement cash flow needs, lengthen the maturities
of liabilities for interest rate risk purposes and to manage the cost of funds.
In addition, funds are derived from scheduled loan payments, investment maturities,
loan prepayments, retained earnings and income on earning assets. While scheduled
loan payments and income on earning assets are relatively stable sources of
funds, deposit inflows and outflows can vary widely and are influenced by prevailing
interest rates, market conditions and levels of competition.
The substantial majority of our deposits (other than certificates of deposit)
are from depositors who reside in our primary market area. However, a significant
portion of our brokered certificates of deposits and QwickRate deposits, described
below, are from depositors located outside our primary market area. Deposits
are attracted through the offering of a broad selection of deposit instruments,
including non-interest-bearing demand deposits (such as checking accounts),
interest-bearing demand accounts (such as NOW and money market accounts), savings
accounts and certificates of deposit. In addition to accounts for individuals,
we also offer several commercial checking accounts designed for the businesses
operating in our market area, and we encourage our commercial customers to maintain
their deposit relationships with us.
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