In August of 2008, a group of investors and myself, with great enthusiasm and fanfare, opened the doors to the first community savings bank in Massachusetts in 16 years - NUVO Bank. We were going to be different. A month later the global credit crisis hit, and the way banking was done changed forever. Running a bank in competitive good times is hard enough, running it in the middle of a global economic banking meltdown is like climbing Everest in a blizzard in your underwear. Everyday you're blinded by another force of nature you never expected. To say it was an educational experience would be an enormous understatement. You never climb Everest alone, and luckily I had two of the best banking minds in the industry, Don Chase as our Chairman and Dale Jane as our President. Together, and with our solid board of trustees, hardworking employees and valued customers, we not only thrived, we survived.