2015 - 1st Quarter

Volume Seven Issue One
1st Quarter 2015
In this
Issue:
Page 1
Advisory Board
Network
Page 2
DC Entrepreneurs
Switch to Sona
Page 2
Unique Buildings
Page 3
Holiday Party 2014
Page 4
Sona & Our Schools
Chevy Chase, MD
January 12, 2015
Sonabank’s Rod Porter, Georgia Derrico, and Devon Porter hosted a networking meeting at
Mei Wah, an excellent Chinese restaurant owned by Larry La, a long-time advisory board
member. In attendance were Larry La himself, a successful restauranteur who came to the U.S.
from China by way of Vietnam. Abe Mansour also attended, an Egyptian-born owner of a travel and consulting agency that caters to foreign governments. Suku Nair, a longtime Sonabank
customer born in India and owner of the Turmeric restaurant in Vienna, brought his son Sri with
him. Sri is following in the family business, having started a very exciting crepe venture.
Mohammad Esfahani, the Iranian-born owner of Z Burger and a DC area real-estate investor,
came to the meeting as well, and Julie Lee, originally from Korea, rounded out the list. Julie is
our newest advisory board member, and is the proud new owner of a 6-unit shopping center and
4 Subway restaurants in the Tyson’s Corner area and also Dulles Airport. Everyone told the
inspiring stories of how they got their start in business. Many came from very modest beginnings and found incredible professional success via hard work, creativity, and perseverance.
Julie Lee said that the luncheon was a great springboard for personal and professional growth.
Page 4
Sona Locations
“Our First Round
Table Luncheon was
a success. It’s great
to see our clients
networking and
building strong
relationships. We
hope to host more of
these in the future.”
The group met in Chevy Chase Maryland at Mei Wah.
Julie Lee with Georgia & Rod
-Georgia Derrico
CEO/Chairman
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Larry La with Mohammad Esfahani & Rod Porter
1
Sonabank New sletter
Suku Nair with son Sri and Larry La
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In 1979, brothers Franco and Piero Landini opened a Tuscan Style restaurant in a 12,000 square foot stone warehouse that
dated back to the 1700’s. Thirty six years later the restaurant is now run by the original brother and Alexandria native,
Franco and his son Noe Landini. Customers are beyond loyal to the amazing veal, lamb, filet, seafood and pasta served 7
days a week here. Reviews are beyond complimentary. This is a restaurant that knows customers by name and knows when
they are sick or when they are celebrating. This is a restaurant with warm-hearted customer service from long-time employees. But this is also a restaurant driven by entrepreneurial spirit and deep roots in their community and a real connection to
the products they serve. In 2008, Franco (who started in the restaurant business as a dishwasher) purchased The Fish
Market directly across the street. Soon after came “Pops Old Fashioned Ice Cream” and a private cigar lounge (CXIII Rex).
With the suite of business products that Sonabank offers, Landini Brothers, Inc has been able to consolidate their accounts
and get their financing priorities met. Along with merchant services we were able to expedite their daily business deposit
and payroll needs. Sonabank customized a business solution to make things simple for this family business.
There are no cookie cutter pre-fab buildings built for Sonabank. Our branches are located in quaint towns where the landscape of a village or downtown walkway was already in place. By leasing or purchasing these existing and often historic
buildings, Sona is recycling and repurposing. In some cases, Sona is participating in the maintenance or renaissance of
these quaint retail districts. Our unique bank buildings have yielded some pretty interesting discoveries. For instance, our
Clifton Forge has been home to 6 different banks over its 50 year life-span and so Sonabank now serves 3rd and 4th generation customers of that building. Clifton Forge contains an ancient locked safe that no one has ever opened. Although it
likely just contains documents, we like to imagine more. Our Leesburg branch’s vault is a work of art and is one of 6 left in
existence by the Herring Hall Marvin Safe Company. It is likely the entire branch was built around that safe. Our Leesburg
building housed one of the first banks in Loudoun County and is purported to be haunted by a former branch manager (Mr.
Tiffany) who fell down a staircase. We discovered that our Middleburg branch was once a Western Union (antique
telegrams were found in the wall). It was also a pharmacy, auto repair shop and a gourmet kitchen store.
Our Middleburg Branch dates back
to 1800’s and has a red tin roof
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Sonabank New sletter
When Clifton Forge Branch was built in
1966 it was thought to be the foremost
indicator of the town’s economic growth
Leesburg Branch was built in
1871 to house Loudoun
National Bank
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Nasrin Zadeh-Khameneh with her
husband by the tree.
Sharon Taylor, Rod Porter and Jamie Wyckoff
enjoy a photo album.
Jossie’s Empire (branch operations staff and branch managers).
John Colantoni, Celina Cuardo, Rod and Georgia, Vivian & Luigi Mirto.
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Sonabank New sletter
Devon Porter joins the band for a
rousing rendition of Johnny B Goode.
Tom Baker, Georgia Derrico, Samina Saleem,
Asifa Hassam
Svetlana Khadjieva dining with her husband.
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Every year, Sonabank seeks opportunities to work with our local schools on many
levels. Our branch staffers have taught classes that help kids understand the importance
of saving money or balancing a checkbook. Our employees have also offered their time
to coach sports teams and mentor bank interns. Branches collect and deliver boxes
filled with school supplies and sponsor school fundraising events. Our school projects
for this year include BANK DAY on March 17th when many of our branch managers
will host an intern for a day. Virginia high school seniors will spend a day in banks
across the Commonwealth shadowing a banker in their daily duties. The purpose of this
experience is for the students to learn and write about banking, financial services, and
the vital role banks play in their communities. Seven scholarships are awarded on the
basis of the essays. Sona will also introduce young consumers to smart financial skills
through ABA's Teach Children to Save campaign on April 24, as part of this industrywide initiative to educate young people about the importance of saving.
MARYLAND
BETHESDA BRANCH
7700 Wisconsin Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814
301.215.6322
BRANDYWINE BRANCH
14118 Brandywine Road
Brandywine, MD 20613
240.681.3784
FREDERICK BRANCH
37 North Market Street
Frederick, MD 21701
301.662.5086
HUNTINGTOWN BRANCH
4009 Old Town Road
Huntingtown, MD 20639
410.535.3760
Our school projects for this year (so far)
include BANK DAY on Tuesday March
3rd when many of our branch managers
will host an intern for a day/ Virginia
high school seniors spend a day in banks
across the Commonwealth shadowing a
banker in their daily duties. The purpose of
this experience is for the students to learn
about banking, financial services, and the
vital role banks play in their communities. After their day, students are required
to write an essay based on their experience.
Thirteen scholarships (twelve regional and
VIRGINIA
CLIFTON FORGE
BRANCH
511 Main Street
OWINGS BRANCH
137 E. Chesapeake Beach Road Clifton Forge, VA 24422
540.862.4251
Owings, MD 20736
301.855.3600
ROCKVILLE BRANCH
11200 Rockville Pike #105
Rockville, MD 20852
301.881.1900
SHADY GROVE BRANCH
9707 Medical Center Drive
Suite 150
Rockville, MD 20850
301.838.2307
UPPER MARLBORO
BRANCH
14804 Pratt Street
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
301.627.3504
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Sonabank New sletter
Our Midlothian Branch brings supplies
And volunteers time to a local school.
FAIRFAX BRANCH
10855 Fairfax Boulevard
Fairfax, VA 22030
703.273.0050
MIDLOTHIAN BRANCH
13804 Hull Street Road
Midlothian, VA 23112
804.521.6585
MCLEAN BRANCH &
HEADQUARTERS
6830 Old Dominion Drive
McLean, VA 22101
703.893.7400
NEW MARKET BRANCH
9484 Congress Street
New Market, VA 22844
540.740.3898
HAYMARKET BRANCH
6719 Lea Berry Way
Haymarket, VA 20169
571.248.6459
LEESBURG BRANCH
1 East Market Street
Leesburg, VA 20176
703.777.2424
LEESBURG DRIVE THRU
FOREST LAKES BRANCH 10 West Market Street
1770 Timberwood Blvd. #100 Leesburg, VA 20176
Charlottesville, VA 22911
703.443.8770
434.973.5242
FRONT ROYAL
1 South Royal Avenue
Front Royal, VA 22630
540.631.1185
MIDDLEBURG BRANCH
10 West Washington Street
Middleburg, VA 20117
540.687.3893
OLD TOWN WARRENTON
BRANCH
11A Main Street
Warrenton, VA 20186
540.428.3435
RESTON BRANCH
11527 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20191
703.860.8088
SOUTH RIDING BRANCH
43086 Peacock Market Plaza
South Riding, VA 20152
703.327.1700
WARRENTON BRANCH
& LOAN PRODUCTION
OFFICE
550 Broadview Ave., Suite LL1
Warrenton, VA 20186
540.347.4521
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