First Niagara Financial

Type: Public
On the web: http://www.fnfg.com
Employees: 1,909
Employee growth: 4.7%

A lot of water and a few barrels have gone over Niagara Falls since First Niagara Bank was founded. Tracing its roots to 1870, the flagship subsidiary of acquisitive First Niagara Financial Group operates more than 110 branches across upstate New York, offering deposit and loan products, insurance, and investments. Commercial real estate loans comprise about 35% of the company's loan portfolio; residential mortgages are more than 30%. The company's First Niagara Commercial Bank subsidiary accepts municipal deposits. First Niagara Financial is entering Pennsylvania in a big way: It acquired more than 50 bank branches from PNC Financial in 2009, and plans to buy bank holding company Harleysville National.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending December, 2008:
Sales: $384.3M
One year growth: 8.0%
Net income: $88.4M
Income growth: 5.2%

Officers:
Chairman: G. Thomas Bowers
President, CEO, and Director: John R. Koelmel
CFO: Michael W. Harrington

Competitors:
HSBC USA
KeyCorp
M&T Bank