The Federal Reserve Bank of New York encompasses perhaps an odd combination of markets: New York, part of New Jersey, Puerto Rico and Fairfield County, Conn. But as far as community bankers are concerned, one Connecticut CEO says the stories are surprisingly recognizable.

"Everybody had very similar concerns – which [were] regulation, and how current regulation is going to affect the banking environment," said John Trentacosta, president and CEO of Newtown Savings Bank. They also worry about the housing market, about the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and say they’ve seen declines in commercial real estate and construction lending – all pretty familiar observations, he said.

Trentacosta had a chance to speak with his cohorts across the New York Fed’s region as part of the Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council. The group is a collection of CEOs from small banks and credit union who were drawn together to share their concerns and insight with the various heads of the Federal Reserve Banking System.

Although fellow Connecticut banker Gregory Shook of Essex Savings Bank belongs to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s board, Newtown’s Fairfield County location sent Trentacosta to New York City, where he and his fellow bankers had the first of several meetings about their concerns as smaller depository institutions.

One representative from each of the 12 banks will go to Washington, D.C., later this year and sum up their findings before the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, which includes Chairman Ben Bernanke.

As any banker can imagine, Trentacosta’s group had plenty to say about the current economic and regulatory environment. But, he told The Commercial Record, Federal Reserve regulators appeared willing to listen.

"I don’t want to use the word ‘venting’ but you almost feel cathartic, in a sense," he said. "It’s important that they hear it."

Despite their uniform worries about the financial industry’s big changes, the New York committee members did have widely differing backgrounds. Puerto Rico, which also had a lone representative on the board, has fewer community-sized institutions, and is mostly dominated by a few larger banks. The differences are vast even within New York State itself, with an agricultural market in many areas, but a far different environment in cities like Buffalo or Syracuse.

Still, he added, they’re united in that they avoided the kinds of risks that sank other banks during the financial crisis. They kept underwriting conservative then, and have stuck to that strategy now.

"They’re survivors," he said.