Laura Alix

Commercial Record Staff

Laura Alix can be reached at lalix@thewarrengroup.com
Working In The Background

Working In The Background

As financial institutions and fintechs size each other up, what should not go overlooked is the opportunity for fintechs to create efficiencies in some of banking’s most critical functions, say industry observers.

Getting Down To Business

Getting Down To Business

Like so many others in banking, Anne Cerami says she got into her field mostly by accident, when a recruiter suggested a commercial real estate gig at Shawmut Bank 25 years ago. Since then she’s held a variety of roles, including credit analyst, commercial lender and SBA manager. Now with TD Bank, Cerami is overseeing the addition of several new small business specialists in Massachusetts and Connecticut. She also serves on the advisory board of the microlender Accion.

All About Accessibility

All About Accessibility

Bruce Howell knew from a young age that he would eventually go blind. At 11, he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease for which there is no cure. He retained most of his vision through high school and college and enjoyed a 15-year career in retail banking. But then the community bank in Needham where he’d worked was shuttered by the FDIC during the commercial real estate collapse of the ’90s. Around that time, Howell also became legally blind. The Carroll Center’s independent living program gave him back his sense of agency, he said, and today he works on web accessibility issues at the center, helping businesses make sure their digital assets are accessible to all of their customers.

Rising Rates, Rising Risk

Rising Rates, Rising Risk

Regulators have had their eye on credit risk for some time, but with several rate increases forecast for 2017, bankers may do well to invest in business intelligence and data analytics tools to better mitigate that risk and root out fraud in a rising rate environment....
An Affinity For Nonprofits

An Affinity For Nonprofits

Jessica McCauley kicked off her accounting career at what was then Price Waterhouse. She worked for five years in the company’s auditing department, working largely with startups and tech companies before taking a hiatus to raise her children. Beers Hamerman offered her the flexibility to balance work and life when she was ready to re-enter the accounting world, and it was there that she developed a specialty working with nonprofits.