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First Niagara CEO recruits helpers to celebrate bank’s milestone

By Jonathan D. Epstein NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER
Updated: 04/15/08 6:56 AM

When First Niagara Financial Group celebrated 10 years of being a public company on Monday, Chief Executive Officer John R. Koelmel had help pressing the button to open trading on the Nasdaq.

That bell-ringing job also fell to 10-year-old Bradley Schneider of Lockport and three other fifth-graders from Upstate New York.

“I’m really excited,” Bradley said before the trip. “It’s great that I get to see New York City for the first time. It’s a great opportunity to do.”

The four young people from the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany regions wrote the winning entries in an essay contest sponsored by the Lockport-based savings bank to celebrate its 10-year anniversary on the market.

Their prize was an all-expenses- paid overnight trip to New York City with their parents and bank executives for a celebratory dinner on Sunday night, followed by ringing the opening bell of the Nasdaq on Monday morning at 9:30 at Times Square, plus some sightseeing. First Niagara also contributed $250 to each winner to start a bank account and donated $1,000 to each winner’s school for computer equipment.

“We’re trying to find a way that would somewhat uniquely enhance a real important celebration for us, and do that in a way that is consistent with what we’re about and link us with the communities and customers that are really important to us,” Koelmel said.

The competition was open to fifth graders enrolled in schools in the 22 counties in which First Niagara has branches. There were 400 entries, with participants required to answer the question: “What new business would you start to help people in your community?”

Typed essays had to be 150 to 300 words long, and emailed to the bank. A committee of 10 employees in each geographic area then selected regional winners, which Koelmel said was difficult. He was not directly involved in the selection.

“It’s a pleasant challenge to have,” he said. “The response was overwhelming, not only in the number but the quality of the work. It well exceeded our expectations.”

Bradley, a student at George Southard Elementary School in Lockport, proposed a gas station at which consumers could barter for a lower price by donating used clothing, toys, electronics and video games that the station’s owner could sell at a discount.

The station could also sell food that consumers grow in their gardens. And consumers could enter a monthly raffle for a free tank of gas when they buy anything from the store.

“The price of a gallon of gas keeps on going up and people don’t have enough money to continue buying gas,” Bradley wrote. “With the reduced price of gasoline and the low price of the items that have been donated, people would realize that they’re saving money. . . . I’m sure this will help people in our community a lot.”

Griffin Lenkiewicz, 10, of Baldwinsville near Syracuse, wrote about “Granny Gophers,” a business to help older people live independently.

Brooke Testa, 11, of Rochester, wrote about creating a year-round sports facility for people with disabilities. She was inspired by working at the Special Olympics.

Lauren Litz, 11, of Niskayuna near Albany, wrote about about using the Internet to help people in need while helping the environment. Victims of theft or house fires could get clothes and other necessities via the Web, thus reducing the need to send the unused items to the landfill, she wrote.

“If we could turn any one of these into a reality, there’s no question it would have an impact,” Koelmel said. “It’s great to . . . tap into that fifth-grade creativity that may effect some better solutions.”

Koelmel said he wouldn’t rule out financing such a venture in the future. “Hey, you never know. It would probably give us one of our better returns,” he said. “We’d all go to bed with a smile on our face anyway.”

This is the first time First Niagara executives have opened the stock market, and Koelmel said he hopes to do it again “as we celebrate other anniversaries.”

“We’re proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in the last 10 years, and thrilled that we can make it a participative celebration,” he said.

jepstein@buffnews.com