Notes, news and views on community banking

Northwestern Financial Review, Apr 15-Apr 30, 2004

Bank responds quickly to collapse

Patriot Bank in Brooklyn, Iowa, collapsed at about 1:30 a.m. on Friday, March 5. No one was in the building at the time and there were no injuries. Two walls of the two-story building, which was more than a century old, collapsed, leaving the rest of the building unstable.

A building for the bank is under construction just a few feet away from the site of the collapsed building. It is possible rain from recent wet weather compromised the exposed foundation of the old building. Brooklyn is situated in a valley and runoff pooled in the construction hole for the new building.

During the day on March 5, files and records were carefully moved out of the old structure. The building was then leveled, leaving only the vault. Safe deposit boxes then were moved to another site. By 8 a.m. Monday, the bank was operating with a staff of nine people out of a mobile home-like structure, which came from MPA Systems of Austin, Texas. Loan officers and insurance agency personnel are operating out of other buildings in town. Jack Arendt is president of the bank.

Craig Arendt, who also works for the bank, said he was telephoned in Des Moines with the news at 6:30 in the morning on March 5. He immediately headed to Brooklyn, which is about 65 miles east of Des Moines. On the way, he was on the phone malting arrangements to set up the temporary facility. The 14-foot by 70-foot bank-trailer was in place by Sunday morning.

Craig Arendt said construction will continue on the new building, which is scheduled to open in September. Patriot Bank is the result of a merger between Gibson Savings Bank, Gibson, and Poweshiek County Savings Bank, Brooklyn, on Jan. 1, 2004. The bank also has offices in Keswick, Deep River and Agency.

Muni volume a record at UBB

United Bankers' Bank of Bloomington, Minn., closed out 2003 with its highest ever rate of growth in municipal securities underwriting. UBB Securities underwrote 90 general obligation bond issues totaling more than $102 million issued by cities, counties, hospitals, parks and school districts in four states. That represents a 65 percent increase over the total amount UBB Securities underwrote in 2002. "Our success in 2003 was aided by the low interest rate environment and the increased demand from banks to aid in municipal securities underwriting," said Ben Eskierka, vice president of investments.

Illinois town puts hold on new banks

The village board for Buffalo Grove, Ill., voted March 16 for a six-month moratorium on new banks and financial institutions in the village's business districts. The Chicago-area community's local newspaper, The Daily Herald, reported that "the moratorium is a response to a concern that the village is becoming over-run with bank proposals. Banks don't bring in retail sales tax revenue and take up storefronts that could be occupied by sales-tax generators."

The moratorium will not affect proposals already in the works, including the proposed Buffalo Grove Bank & Trust, and the Bank of America. The moratorium does not apply to currency exchanges or ATMs.

InBalance Network growing

Highland Bank of St. Michael, Minn., with a large presence in St. Paul, is the latest member of the InBalance Network, the organization of banks supporting a surcharge-free ATM option for Minnesota community banks. Perry Forst, president and CEO of Citizens State Bank in Norwood-Young America, Minn., and chairman of InBalance, said the group has 40 banks involving 125 ATMs. Forst said membership is continuing to grow. The addition of Highland Bank, he said, gives the network a machine at the Mall of America in Bloomington. "When we first formed this network, the thought was that all the machines would be out-state, but as it has turned out, we have solid coverage in the Twin Cities," Forst said.

InBalance transactions are processed by Shazam, Instant Cash and Fast Bank; Forst said the group is in discussion with other processors to make the network appealing to more banks.

FWI group honors member

The Southeast Nebraska group of Financial Women International named Tracy Pickering of the Nebraska Independent Community Bankers as its 2004 Member of the Year. Pickering is events director and comptroller for NICB. She is president of the local FWI group.

New branch in Minden, Neb.

NebraskaLand National Bank is opening a full service branch in Mullen, Neb. Ron Boyer has joined the bank to head up the new branch. The facility initially will function as a loan and deposit office, and the location of the branch is yet to be announced. Boyer is a native of Mullen and has 26 years of banking experience. The Mullen office will be the fifth location for the $112 million, five-year-old bank, which currently has four offices in North Platte.

Extras...

* Charles Saeman, president and CEO of State Bank of Cross Plains, Wis., has been appointed to the Financial Accounting Standards Board's new Small Business Advisory Committee.

* The Scott County State Bank of Scottsburg, Ind., has selected Kirchman Bankway as its core processing system. Scott County Bank, founded in 1890, has $115 million in assets.