George Norcross on why he keeps investing as the economy slows

Tariffs, higher interest rates, and past losses from the Republic First Bancorp debacle aren’t discouraging George E. Norcross III. He’s still betting on Philadelphia-area business.

For the second time this month, Norcross, an insurance broker, Cooper University Health Care chair, and South Jersey Democratic Party power broker, has boosted his family’s share of Mid Penn Bancorp, a $6 billion asset, Harrisburg-based, small-business and consumer lender that’s expanding in the Philadelphia area.

A new SEC filing shows Norcross’ General American Corp. bought another $5 million of Mid Penn stock from April 2-10. The group now owns more than 8% of Mid Penn shares, up from 7.3% as of last week, after buying 6% last year.

Norcross, 69, who was vice chairman of the pioneering drive-up retail bank Commerce Bancorp before its 2008 sale to TD Bank, expanded on why he’s buying into another bank and other issues in a wide-ranging interview with The Inquirer. He declined to discuss a New Jersey court’s recent decision to drop state charges against him and five others in a Camden waterfront redevelopment case.

The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

I saw bank service is deteriorating. And I saw we had a gap in this market — eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the market I know best. I’m not interested in New York.

In the size we are looking at — $5 billion or $6 billion in assets — there was just Firstrust, which is owned by Richard Green, who’s brilliant, but it’s private, [shares are] not for sale, and Mid Penn.

I became acquainted through two dear friends who work closely with Mid Penn, [former Eagles quarterback turned golf course developer] Ron Jaworski and [Doylestown police officer turned GF Hotels & Resorts owner] Ken Kochenour. The more I saw, the more I became very interested. Mid Penn was basically Commerce without all the branches. It’s an inexpensive model. They just opened a branch in Camden; it’s maybe 1,000 square feet.

I don’t remember the last time I went into a bank branch. My family holding company is based in Florida; we need remote services. And their software program is as good as any bank I’ve seen — and I’ve done business with every big bank in America.

I may have first met [Mid Penn CEO] Rory Ritrievi back in our Commerce Bank days [when Ritrievi headed lending for Commerce’s Harrisburg franchise]. Rory trained at Commerce Bank with Vernon Hill, Dennis DiFlorio, and Bob Falese, so I had great regard for his ability to grow this.

The problem with the big banks is they have no personality in dealing with Middle America. People want to do business with someone they know. That’s what Mid Penn’s sweet spot is. [Commerce founder] Vernon Hill was right about that. His only mistake was trying to build expensive branches for too long.

And Mid Penn is selling at a share price that’s below tangible book value and a price-to-earnings ratio of just 8.4 [compared to around 12 for the KBW Bank Index, and 26 for the S&P 500]. But this bank’s been growing. Earnings have been going up. It’s attractive, but most people don’t know about it yet.

I love the management. I support the management. I don’t have an interest in an active role now, other than advocating for new customers.

He joined the bank when he got his master’s before I knew what he was doing. He’s managed to move his way slightly higher. My son did not have an interest in [working at] Conner Strong & Buckelew [Norcross’ insurance brokerage in South Jersey].

I think we’re sound. We have interest rates that are modestly high. My clients at Conner Strong & Buckelew are doing really well. The construction and infrastructure industry is on a huge surge on Biden infrastructure funding, as we are at Cooper.

It remains to be seen. I don’t think the U.S. government will be cutting health-care prescription benefits. Too many Republican districts have too many people over 65.

Look at the hospital industry in our region: Penn, CHOP, Cooper, Virtua, these are very financially successful, growing institutions. Cooper for seven straight years has had double-digit organic growth.

Others have had stress. And high debt. Jefferson now has brilliant management — the president [Joseph G. Cacchione] has got his work cut out for him. Under the new leadership of John Fry, wonderful things will happen at Temple.

Other regional hospitals, I think, are going to have issues. If your compensation, particularly in nursing, is going up 30% or 40% and you don’t have organic growth, you have a big problem. We’re pretty blessed at the medical institutions in our region.

Legislators of both parties, people like [Pennsylvania U.S. Sens.] Fetterman and McCormick, are not going to tolerate cuts that are going to affect basic government services — health care in particular, Medicare, Medicaid, prescription health benefits. There will be a backlash in America if you cut that.

Now there is a lot of mismanagement in government. But you have to be careful how you cut things.

If you are Elon Musk and you wake up wanting to cut 40,000 people, you can do that if you own Twitter. But America won’t tolerate that for [government services]. President Trump will get a revolt going forward.

The Democratic Party that I have known has lost its way. We don’t have much of a message, and we don’t have a messenger.

But all this about the Democrats becoming a permanent minority party, no. Despite how bad the public thought the Biden administration was, Kamala Harris only lost by 1.5%.

I would equate this time to back at the end of the 1980s. The party took a beating in the 1988 elections it had been favored to win. It was left with leadership names that were far left, and then this little known guy Bill Clinton came walking down the street and got elected president, two terms.

I believe it will happen again. Maybe a Southern governor or a senator.

But the Democratic Party will have to represent working men and women of all colors. When they reject your party, you have a problem.