Louis Amoriggi '18
Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking
Webster Bank
Award Profile
Courageous Thinking and Action
Louis Amoriggi was literally born and raised into a successful family business and almost everyone including himself assumed his inevitable career path was predetermined. Lou was fortunate enough to be exposed to business at an early age by his father and brothers at the original Amoriggi Seafoods. He returned to work there after graduating fromBoston University in 1982 and continued to learn the inner-workings of the many different facets of a complex industry. Though not his ideal career choice, it was an invaluable learning experience and eventually he gathered up the courage to explain to his family that he had chosen another career path. With the encouragement of his family, Lou went on to graduate school to get his MBA from the University of Rhode Island and began a career in banking in 1989.
Vision & Innovation
Throughout his career in banking, Lou’s vision has always been to bring his perspective of business that he gained while working at his family’s company. There is no better way to learn than from practical experience. He believes that his exposure to business at an early age gave him an advantage especially when coupled with a formal education. His ability to relate and understand the inner workings and operations of a successful company as an entrepreneur provided him with a unique advantage and perspective. This “non-banking” viewpoint continuously helped him throughout his banking career. Over the years, he has been able to help influence several businesses to start, grow and succeed by striving to be the trusted advisor that every entity needs and most bankers strive for yet fail to achieve.
Inspiring Leadership
Through his indoctrination into the business world, Lou was fortunate enough to be exposed to various management and leadership styles at an early age which has allowed him to develop his own style of leadership. The most admired leaders he has encountered have all been genuine, accessible, inspiring, motivational, capable, trustworthy, and caring. In the business world, he has always strived to be a good leader by emphasizing teamwork, seeking to identify talent as well as potential and by striving to make those around him better. Lou believes that the successful managers and leaders in business are the ones who recognize, promote, and reward those performing above expectations. One of the best tests of Lou’s Leadership
abilities came when he served as President of the Rhode Island Bankers Association in 2011-2012. The Country and State were still in the midst of the recession and the banking industry as a whole was near the center of the proverbial storm. He still cherishes that opportunity to have led the association through important initiatives by finding common ground while representing a membership with various sizes, issues and concerns.
Community Mindedness
Lou believes that to truly be a member of the community one must give back and that most people will realize they get more out of giving than receiving. The act of giving can come in all shapes and sizes, such as time, talent or treasure. He truly feels fortunate to have worked for companies that have shared and supported his passion and commitment to the community throughout his professional career. Over the years, Lou has been a part of many worthy causes, but is partial to educational organizations. His parents have always emphasized the importance of education as something that could never be taken away from an individual. This has been part of his attraction to volunteer with Junior Achievement for more than 30 years. One of his fondest endeavors came last year as he was able to bring together two of his
favorite entities, Junior Achievement and Community Preparatory School, and he volunteered to teach the inaugural first two sessions of JA It’s My Future.
JA Mission Moment
I became involved with Junior Achievement of Rhode Island through my late sister, Donna, in 1984. She had just moved backed from Washington, D.C. and was working for JA of Rhode Island when she was in need of volunteers to teach the JA Company program at Johnston High School. I was convinced to become a volunteer and have been hooked ever since. This began my involvement with JA which has led me to various levels of participation including a classroom volunteer, a fundraiser through special events, such as Achieve-A-Bowl, as well as serving on the Board of Directors and the Executive Leadership Council. Additionally, I was awarded a scholarship from the Little Family Foundation in 1987 which allowed me the opportunity to become a University of Rhode Island MBA Fellow. This scholarship was awarded to JA Rhode Island volunteers and allowed me to further my education. Throughout my 30+ years of involvement, I have felt blessed to have been able to contribute to a wonderful cause helping to bring my work/life experiences into the classroom. Working with young people and seeing them “get it” makes it all worthwhile.