Two boutique consulting firms have recently been launched, both with the focus of helping community banks and credit unions compete with larger players.

Orchard Executive Search and Bergstrom Consulting Services are the new ventures of financial services industry veterans B.J. Berrettini and Alan Bergstrom, respectively.

Berrettini worked for recruiting firm AJ Consultants for nearly a dozen years, and was most recently executive director of the firm’s New England operations.

But he recently struck out on his own with the creation of Orchard Executive Search, which specializes in placing top talent within banks, credit unions, and fintechs.

Berrettini said Orchard’s differentiator is providing personalized “white-glove service” that goes above and beyond the norm, ensuring every client and candidate receives individualized and focused attention and service.

Orchard’s primary services include:

• Executive search
• Leadership consulting
• Cultural fit and assessment
• Diversity and inclusion focus

In fact, a multi-billon dollar community bank has already engaged Orchard on a confidential search for the bank’s new controller. And a $5 billion-asset regional bank has hired the firm to find a VP/SVP commercial banking relationship manager tasked with driving C&I lending growth.

Berrettini, who is based in Pittston in Northeast Pennsylvania, told Tyfone, “I have never been more excited.”

Bergstrom formed his firm to serve small and medium-sized credit unions with CMO-level support.

Those institutions face significant disadvantages compared to larger institutions that have richer resources to recruit and retain seasoned marketing professionals, he said. In fact, two-thirds of credit unions in the U.S. fall into the small-to-medium category, yet they share the same marketing demands as their larger counterparts.

Smaller credit unions thus are in many instances at a competitive disadvantage and often feel the only way out is to merge with larger credit unions.

“My main focus is credit unions, but community banks have many of the same issues and I’ve worked with a few in the past and wouldn’t rule out any that require my assistance,” Bergstrom told Tyfone.

During his 40 years of marketing consulting, he has served as a CMO for several credit unions, and also as chief marketing officer of Aux.

Bergstrom is based in Tucson, Arizona.

“My main focus is credit unions, but community banks have many of the same issues and I’ve worked with a few in the past and wouldn’t rule out any that require my assistance.”

 – Alan Bergstrom
Founder
Bergstrom Consulting Services