Howie Mallory’s last day as executive vice president of Community Banks of Colorado was in June. But on Friday, his co-workers, bank co-founders and friends hosted a party, and a roast, in his honor.
Someone joked that Mallory was too tight with a dollar to spring for a party while still at the bank. John McBride, an old friend, ribbed Mallory that his retirement party was being held in a bank parking lot. Aspen Mayor Mick Ireland immediately pointed out that parking lots in Aspen are worth millions of dollars. Nearly everyone who spoke acknowledged Mallory’s intelligence, creativity, civic pride and casual approach to preppy fashion.
Mallory is now in his mid-60s and is off to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with his family “before the glacier melts.” He then plans to return to Aspen to see what the next phase of his life will bring. On his return, he’s more than likely to continue to be an active member of the Aspen community.
An avid cross-country skier, Mallory is serving on the boards of the Aspen/Snowmass Nordic Council and the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association. And given his skill with numbers, he is serving on the city’s Citizens Budget Task Force.
He is a former board member and president of the Aspen Valley Land Trust and the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, and has served on many local committees, including one called “Free the Bells,” which sought to reduce the scale of the public facilities planned by the U.S. Forest Service at the Maroon Bells. And he has been given an alumni award by Roaring Fork Leadership.
When the community needs a model citizen to sit on a committee, Mallory frequently gets the call.
“I did it because I felt it was critical to sustain the unique quality and features of the community,” Mallory said about his volunteer efforts. “There is a responsibility in that people need to participate on a voluntary basis to help sustain those values that give Aspen its unique strength. If you do that well, the community does well, and if the community does well, then the economy does well.”
Mallory moved to Aspen in 1973. After graduating from Yale and serving in the Navy for three and one-half years, including one year in Vietnam, he worked for Shawmut Bank in Boston for a spell. He then came to Aspen with a “beat-up car, a radio and a dog.”
“I was never intending to set roots here, but four children and a mortgage later, I’m still here,” Mallory said.
Mallory is married to Nora Berko, the daughter of photographer Ferenc “Franz” Berko. His daughter Mirte is now helping to preserve Franz Berko’s legacy and bring his iconic black and white photos of Aspen to a larger audience. His son Linden is leading a trip as a mountain guide up Mount Elbrus on the Russia-Georgia border.
Before serving as the first president and one of three founders of the Aspen branch of Community Banks of Colorado, Mallory worked at Pitkin County Bank and Trust, now Vectra Bank, and First National Bank, now US Bank.
Community Banks of Colorado opened its Aspen branch in a small office on East Hyman Avenue in 1998, then rented the building it is in today on Mill Street. Now the bank owns that building and has opened other regional branches in Basalt, Glenwood Springs, Rifle, Eagle, Edwards and Avon, not to mention more than 40 other branches around the state and in California.
Mallory is a genuinely nice guy — quick with a smile and a laugh and generous with his time. But that does not mean he was necessarily a soft touch as a banker. When deciding to make a loan, he said, bankers look at the “five Cs:” cash, collateral, cash flow, character and credit history.
“The idea behind Community Banks was that if your connection to the community is good enough, you can manage those five areas and still help someone in the community get started with what they want to do,” Mallory said.
One of the signature programs of the bank is the “community touch” program, which features a different non-profit each month in the bank’s marketing.
“In a very general sense, I think we helped the community be successful both economically and socially, with financing for affordable housing and affordable businesses,” Mallory said. “When I helped participate in and run profitable banks, they were profitable because they had probably done a good job helping the community.”
bgs@aspendailynews.com
