Five generations of Hamlins at the helm
By Stefan Yablonski
Canandaigua National Bank has built a rich heritage in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York since 1887.
Remarkably, in that time there have only been five bank presidents — all from the same family.
Frank Hamlin III, the current president and CEO, is the fifth generation.
“There’s a common misconception that we own the bank,” he said. “There are 1,700 shareholders. We are not majority shareholders by any means. Any Hamlin that has come to lead this bank has come from somewhere else, not through the bank. Everyone developed their own life; no one grew up in the bank.”
Frank’s father, George Hamlin IV, graduated from Yale University in 1963 with a degree in physics. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia Law School in 1972 and worked for a law firm in Rochester for six years. He specialized in tax, financial planning and trusts and estates law.
“I was actually a criminal defense attorney for about a decade before I came in,” Hamlin said. “My dad’s predecessor, Arthur Hamlin, was a bonds trader. His predecessor, George Hamlin, was also a lawyer. He was associated with his father in the practice of law. The original was Frank Harwood Hamlin. Back in those days, everyone was involved in farming. He was the first president back in 1887.”
“It was never the plan that I would end up here; but you go through your life and opportunities appear and take you in directions you never considered. But 15 years later, here we are. No one was ever earmarked for anything,” he continued. “So, I won’t foreclose that idea [of a possible sixth generation]. But I have not had nor will I have any direct conversations with respect to that with any of my children. Your kids have got to follow their own path. They pick up some skills along the way. This is a people business, how to work with people and how to solve problems for people. That is what I am encouraging my kids to do. Follow their own path.”
