WILMINGTON – Salvatore J. “Chip” Rossi Jr. may well be one of corporate Delaware’s best former athletes, as the two-sport Division III starter is enshrined in his alma mater’s sports hall of fame, but growing up in New Castle he thought less about a professional sports future than one might expect.
“I really wanted to be a teacher and a coach,” he said. “My role models in my life were my mom and dad, but also the coaches who worked with you, not only to develop your skill sets, but also just to work with you as a person and develop what it’s like to be a part of a team.”
Though he didn’t end up becoming a professional coach or a teacher, their skills and mission have largely led his career through Delaware’s banking giants.
The oldest of four children in a working-class family, Rossi got his lifelong moniker “Chip” after his grandmother said he looked like a “chip off the old block” as a junior to his father. He idolized his dad, Salvatore Sr., who worked tenaciously as a bricklayer, but instantly switched into family-mode upon arriving home, ready to usher his kids to activities and sports.
“My mom and dad taught me a lot about hard work,” he recalled. “We lived in a small home. My two brothers and I had one bedroom and my sister had her own. We had one bathroom for the whole family. But we grew up with a lot of love.”
As he grew older and eyed college, the gifted young athlete could have chosen to play baseball at a Division I school or football and baseball at a Division III school. Rossi fell in love with Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pa., where he got the opportunity to play both and would meet his future wife there.
A torn ACL in his senior year pretty much dashed any hopes of trying to play baseball professionally though.
“I wasn’t going to be able to go on to that next level, but fortunately every summer and winter break right out of high school that I had I started working at a company called MBNA,” he said. “When I graduated, they had offered me a job and little did I know that it would last 33 years to today.”
He came into MBNA, then one of Delaware’s most prolific employers, through a management training program, and he would rise through its ranks until its 2006 acquisition by Bank of America. Along the way, Rossi has worked in a variety of divisions, from customer assistance to credit underwriting, operations to global compliance. He said those early management roles overseeing credit collections were particularly important for his growth as a leader.
“Having the experience to work with thousands of people across the country who are servicing customers, who come from diverse backgrounds and diverse experiences. That was a wonderful opportunity,” he said.
Rossi was also a leader in Bank of America’s credit operations amid the Great Recession of 2008-09, when he was tasked with helping government regulators as they stress tested banks across the country to determine their financial well-being. As new opportunities arose, Rossi would jump from credit products to consumer offerings like checking accounts, mortgages, auto loans and more.
“To have that opportunity, it happens really at only a few companies and Bank of America is one of them,” he said. “I think I’m better, not only professionally but as a person as well, because of the diversity of people that I’ve met along that journey.”
Although many of his former MBNA colleagues chose to leave for other opportunities following Bank of America’s acquisition, Rossi said he’s always found the multinational bank to uphold the mission that began under the once mighty credit card issuer: supporting customers, employees and their local community. It’s the reason why his first career stop has been his only career stop.
“It’s been about the genius of the ‘and.’ It’s about growing responsibly and in a sustainable manner; generating returns; delivering for your customers and clients; creating great experiences for them; being a great place to work for your employees; and sharing your success with the communities we’re all part of,” he said. “That’s what kept me here. It’s aligned to who I am.”
While Bank of America will look to add team members and continue to grow its footprint in coming years, Rossi said it also remains committed to its community, donating upward of $4 million a year to local causes, including recently gifting $350,000 to the Food Bank of Delaware.
“We’ll continue to look at where we need to continue to help address the complex issues that are facing society today – racial equity, quality of life, disparity in wealth,” he said, noting the bank already has a $21 an hour minimum wage with plans to raise it to $25 an hour by 2025. “My hope is to continue to be a part of that personally, along with the teammates that we have here locally.”
