Mary Navarro
Senior EVP and Director of Retail and Business Banking, Huntington Bancshares
Many banks are closing more branches than they are opening, but not Huntington. It added more than a branch a week last year. The architect of the expansion, Mary Navarro, helped increase customer households last year by 12 percent, more than three times the industry average and, in terms of the number of newcomers, more than Huntington grew in the three previous years combined.
Chairman and CEO Stephen Steinour says it's Navarro's ability to track and judge industry trends that has kept Huntington ahead of competitors. He credits her with growing the Columbus, Ohio-based regional into the top SBA lender in the Midwest and the third-largest in the nation, and says her customer-centric focus on service has driven cross-selling rates and revenue growth. Much of the new growth Navarro plans to deliver will come from in-store branches. With exclusive, long-term agreements to operate inside Giant Eagle supermarkets in Ohio and Meijer retail stores in Michigan, Huntington plans to have several hundred locations in the two chains within the next few years.
