He’s so well known in Greater New Haven that people say he should run for mayor. Instead, Mark A. Candido and his partners hope to use their connections to start something they say the area needs far more than another politician.

Candido filed an application with the state Department of Banking earlier this month to start a state-chartered, de novo commercial bank in Hamden. The bank, Quinnipiac Bank and Trust Co., would fill a void of community banks in the area that cater to small and medium-sized businesses, Candido said.

“We believe there’s a void in the entire banking industry, but as far as Connecticut [is concerned], we believe there’s a void of community banks,” he said.

There has been a spate of de novo banks nearing their opening dates this year. Organizers of Quinnipiac Bank and Trust hope to open in the third quarter of 2006, but four other banks are currently organizing in Connecticut and are scheduled to open this year.

Candido and his partner, Richard R. Barredo, both have been bankers in Greater New Haven for more than 30 years, Candido said, adding that they hope to use the ties they have established with the people and businesses in the area to create a very local focus for the bank. The area is dominated by large banks, which often do not find it profitable to cater to smaller businesses, according to Candido, who said he hopes his bank will fill that niche.

“We believe we can give that personal touch,” he said.

Candido did what he calls a “watered-down feasibility study” to present to the bank’s board members. The bank’s mission statement, which was included in his presentation, echoes the desire for the bank to have a local focus.

“The proposed bank will be sensitive to the currently unattended needs of consumers and small businesses,” the statement reads. “Through their contacts in the business and professional community, the organizers have found real and growing concerns expressed about the quality of banking services being provided by the larger banks, their fees and rate structures and their lack of concern for the customers’ business and personal affairs. It has become apparent that the super-regionals are focusing on larger customers, larger loans and fee-generating services.”

Fairly shortly after the main office opens in Hamden, the bank’s organizers hope to open a branch in New Haven, then to grow up the Interstate 91 corridor toward Hartford. Businesses and communities there are thriving, and the market is right for a new bank, Candido said.

‘Very Confident’

The initial funding for the bank will be obtained through a public offering that will try to raise $10 million. That will be the most challenging step of the process, Candido said, but he added he is confident in his and his partner’s ability to raise it. The board of directors is already formed, and the 15 local investors are putting down $2.5 million.

“I think the biggest challenge Â… will be going from the $2.5 million the board put up to the $10 million,” Candido said.

But Candido has spoken to many people in Greater New Haven who have expressed interest about investing in the bank. He estimated there are 75 or 80 people who asked him to call when the organizers are ready to start raising money.

“We’re very confident,” he said.

Candido has another reason for confidence. Since the idea for the bank came about in March 2004, he and other organizers have spent a lot of time talking with other experienced bankers who have started de novo banks, asking for advice. Candido called it a “sanity check,” saying it was a way to see if the bank could actually get off the ground and be successful.

Most of the bankers supported the idea, and many said that one of the steps they would have handled differently was the way the board of directors is set up. Some of those bankers told Quinnipiac Bank and Trust Co.’s organizers that they would have liked a board where each member invested about the same amount of money, to keep them all on equal footing.

“It eliminates a lot of infighting,” Candido said.

The bank has come reasonably close to that goal, he said. Eight of the 15 board members are in for $200,000, while others who have invested less have strong ties to the communities or characteristics that make them invaluable to the board of directors, Candido said.

All of the board members are from Greater New Haven and will help the bank grow in the area, he noted.

“Every one of [the members] is very local,” Candido said.

And, he added, he hopes that the bank’s employees also will be local. He has received several calls from old banking friends who work at large banks and want to move to a smaller bank, and have asked him to consider them for employment when the bank opens.

Another one of the major challenges will be finding a location, he said. The organizers hope the main branch will be located on Dixwell Avenue or Whitney Avenue in Hamden, near the center of town.

Candido predicts the bank’s main competition in Greater New Haven will be Banknorth, when its acquisition of Hudson United Bank is complete next year, and NewAlliance Bank. Other banks that have branches in Hamden include People’s Bank, Webster Bank and New Haven Savings Bank. There are 19 banking offices in Hamden, according to Candido’s feasibility study.

Other organizers of the Quinnipiac Bank and Trust Co. include Richard K. Ciardiello, Carl Davia, Sallie A. DeMarsilis, Stephen J. DiCapua, Richard H. Fitzpatrick Jr., Paul A. Gustafson, Timothy J. Hayes, Joseph D. Lion, Brian P. McArdle, Raymond W. Palumbo, Pasquale Salvatore, Richard C. Simione and Richard Spero.