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The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.


After Surviving 2020, The Future Looks Bright For Community Banks In 2021

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The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

4 Community Bank Executives Give Their Perspectives On The Paycheck Protection Program

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The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga&rsquo;s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. 
Community banks play an important role in many small communities, acting as a source of capital for small, local businesses. In the early days of the pandemic, community banks provided a lot of much-needed aid during the initial rollout of the Payment Protection Program. During this time, community banks <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/smaller-banks-doled-out-bulk-of-ppp-loans-fed-data-show-51588677303" target="_blank">provided a vast majority</a> of PPP loans to small businesses.&nbsp;

However, even though community banks provided a great deal of aid, many were uncertain as to whether community banks would survive the pandemic.&nbsp;

According to Tim Melvin, author of the Community Bank Investor Newsletter and Banking On Profit, the number of loans in deferral and forbearance programs in the early days of COVID-19 was enough to have crashed the banking system.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Had the Fed and Congress not acted as quickly as they did early in the pandemic, we would have seen a disaster in the banking system on the scale of the 1930s,&rdquo; Melvin told Benzinga.

However, early action from the Fed and Congress seems to have been a saving grace for the sector.

&ldquo;As we move into 2021, community banks have plenty of capital, credit conditions are better than we could have hoped, and the future looks pretty bright,&rdquo; Melvin said.

For investors focused on community banks, additional light on the sector will be shed at the upcoming <a href="https://bit.ly/3pVCdBv" target="_blank">Community Bank Conference</a>, a Virtual Investor Conference hosted by OTC Markets Group. The two-day conference starting on Wednesday, March 10, will feature presentations from C-suite executives representing 16 different community banks.

Below is the schedule for the conference. Each presentation will cover updates on latest financials and will be followed by a live Q&amp;A session with attendees.

To register for Wednesday&rsquo;s conference, <a href="https://bit.ly/3pVCdBv" target="_blank">click here</a>.

<h3>Wednesday, March 10th&nbsp;</h3>

9:15 AM ET Janney Montgomery Scott

Keynote Presentation: Community Bank Valuations &ndash; amidst headwinds, what does the future path look like?

Speakers: Matthew Veneri, Head of Investment Banking and Dan Flaherty, Managing Director, Investment Banking

10:00 AM ET Royal Financial, Inc. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/RYFL#OTCQX">RYFL</a>) 
Speaker: Leonard Szwajkowski, President &amp; CEO

10:30 AM ET Private Bancorp of America, Inc. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/PBAM#OTCQX">PBAM</a>) 
Speakers: Rick Sowers, President &amp; CEO, and Richard Pimentel, EVP &amp; CFO

11:00 AM ET Victory Bancorp Inc. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/VTYB#OTCQX">VTYB</a>) 
Speaker: Joe Major, Bank Leader

11:30 AM ET Suncrest Bank (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/SBKK#OTCQX">SBKK</a>) 
Speakers: Ciaran McMullan, President &amp; CEO, and Peter Nutz, Chief Credit Officer

12:00 PM ET White River Bancshares Company (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/WRIV#OTCQX">WRIV</a>) 
Speaker Information to Come

12:30 PM ET Freedom Bank of Virginia (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/FDVA#OTCQX">FDVA</a>) 
Speakers: Joe Thomas, President &amp; CEO, and Raj Mehra, EVP &amp; Chief Financial Officer

1:00 PM ET Mountain Commerce Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/MCBI#OTCQX">MCBI</a>) 
Speakers: William (&ldquo;Bill&rdquo;) E. Edwards - Founder, Vice Chairman, President &amp; CEO, Kevin W. Horne - Chief Credit Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and David A. Bright, CPA - Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

1:30 PM ET Communities First Financial Corp. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/CFST#OTCQX">CFST</a>) 
Speakers: Steve Miller, President &amp; CEO

2:00 PM ET Eagle Financial Services Inc. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/EFSI#OTCQX">EFSI</a>) 
Speaker Information to Come

<h3>Thursday, March 11th</h3>

10:00 AM ET Alpine Banks of Colorado (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ALPIB#OTCQX">ALPIB</a>) 
Speakers: Tom Kenning, Chief Administration Officer, and Eric Gardey, Chief Financial Officer

10:30 AM ET Kish Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/KISB#OTCQX">KISB</a>) 
Speakers: William P. Hayes, Chairman &amp; CEO, Gregory T. Hayes, President &amp; COO, and Mark J. Cvrkel, EVP, CFO &amp; Treasurer

11:00 AM ET BankFirst Capital Corp. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/BFCC#OTCQX">BFCC</a>) 
Speakers: Moak Griffin, Chief Executive Officer, President, and Luke Yeatman, Executive Vice President

11:30 AM ET First Resource Bank (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/FRSB#OTCQX">FRSB</a>) 
Glenn B. Marshall, President &amp; CEO

12:00 PM ET Community Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/CMTV#OTCQX">CMTV</a>) 
Speakers: Kathryn M. Austin, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Louise Bonvechio, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Community National Bank Treasurer and Corporate Secretary

12:30 PM ET InsCorp, Inc. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/IBTN#OTCQX">IBTN</a>) 
Speakers: Jim Rieniets, President &amp; CEO, and Mark Bruchas, Executive Vice President &amp; CFO

1:00 PM ET First Home Bancorp, Inc. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/FHBI#OTCQX">FHBI</a>) 
Speaker Information to Come

Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@etiennemartin?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Etienne Martin</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/bank?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga&rsquo;s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga&rsquo;s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

The Paycheck Protection Program&mdash;the emergency small business loan program established by the CARES Act&mdash;has provided a much-needed safety net for businesses struggling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. However it hasn&rsquo;t been an entirely smooth ride for those involved.&nbsp;

The first tranche of funding&mdash;roughly $349 billion in loans&mdash;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/government/20/04/15821820/ppp-key-tool-to-keep-workers-employed-runs-out-of-funds">ran out in just 13 days</a>. A number of larger publicly traded companies also made use of the program, prompting public backlash and the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/13/small-business-relief-loans-these-public-companies-didnt-need-ppp.html">Small Business Administration to ask for the money back</a>.

There have also been complaints from some businesses that the loans have been hard to get and come with too many strings, as well as complaints from banks who say that the SBA has been inconsistent with its guidance. Not to mention the <a href="https://fortune.com/2020/04/27/sba-ppp-site-crashed-down-paycheck-protection-program-application-portal-tech-issues-small-business-loans/">technical issues that have arisen</a>.&nbsp;

Despite all that, the program has provided roughly $660 million to businesses since the first funds became available at the beginning of April. On May 28, the House of Representatives voted to give borrowers more time to use the loans, as well as lowering the percentage required to spend on payroll in order to be eligible for loan forgiveness.&nbsp;

According to the Federal Reserve, data through April showed that the vast <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/smaller-banks-doled-out-bulk-of-ppp-loans-fed-data-show-51588677303">majority of PPP loans had been provided through smaller community banks</a>, as opposed to the nation&rsquo;s biggest banks. Jason Paltrowitz, executive vice president of corporate services at OTC Markets, said he&rsquo;s heard from a number of community banks that the program has been massively successful for them.

&ldquo;With approximately 100 community banks on our OTCQX Market, we continue to see the vital role these banks play in serving their communities. This has been proven again during the current crisis, as these community and regional banks step to the forefront of securing lending to ensure the survival of local businesses.&rdquo;

Benzinga asked executives from four community banks around the country why that&rsquo;s been the case, and how the Payroll Protection Program has worked for them.&nbsp;

<h3>Many Loan Applicants Needed Handholding</h3>

Exton, Pennsylvania-based First Resource Bank (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/FRSB#OTCQX">FRSB</a>) announced it had approved over $50 million in PPP loans as of May 5, slightly above what they had expected.&nbsp;

President and CFO Lauren Ranalli said her bank has primarily worked with small businesses that required a little more handholding than larger banks can typically provide. She thinks that&rsquo;s a big reason why they&rsquo;ve provided as many loans as they have.&nbsp;

&ldquo;A lot of our small businesses, they don&rsquo;t have a CFO. They&rsquo;ve got a bookkeeper and they&rsquo;ve got the business owner,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re working with a smaller bank, you&rsquo;re working with a lender who is talking to you and is walking you through the documents, and it&rsquo;s a lot more hand-holding and a lot more of a comfortable experience. We were able to explain the rules, help them understand what they were getting into.&rdquo;

Tamara Gurney, CEO of Mission Valley Bank (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/MVLY#OTCQX">MVLY</a>), which had given out around $68 million in loans at the time of our conversation said giving clients individual attention was critical.

&ldquo;This is when people are realizing electronics are fine. But when you need a human being to talk to, and this is when everybody needs one because there&rsquo;s sheer panic out there, having the ability to talk to somebody is huge.&rdquo;

<h3>Big Banks Simply Could Not Service All Of Their Clients</h3>

Joe Thomas, CEO of Freedom Bank of Virginia (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/FDVA#OTCQX">FDVA</a>), said that larger banks likely had a harder time giving out loans by nature of their size.&nbsp;

&ldquo;It did seem like the larger institutions were jealous [of smaller banks] of how much time, effort, and resources they dedicated to the PPP program. We got 60-70% of loans approved in round one. We hear from some of the megabanks that they only got 5-10% of the loans approved. So it is a stark contrast, diseconomies of scale that enabled the community banks to go one application at a time and key it in.&rdquo;

&ldquo;The bigger banks seemed to have had more of a challenge trying to get a process down,&rdquo; said Mission Valley&rsquo;s Gurney. &ldquo;Word on the street, and what clients of bigger banks are telling me, is larger banks went to their larger clients first. So they were looking for their larger clients who were probably their best clients and wanted to help them first. Bigger banks have never had a reputation for being communicating with small business clients. That&rsquo;s just my experience.&rdquo;

Leonard Szwajkowski, CEO of Chicago-based Royal Financial (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/RYFL#OTCQX">RYFL</a>), said his bank ended up getting a decent number of new clients from Wells Fargo (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/WFC#NYSE">WFC</a>), JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/JPM#NYSE">JPM</a>), and a mid-sized bank in Central Indiana as a result.&nbsp;

&ldquo;I think we all know what occurred here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The large banks used filters, and looked at it from the perspective of do they have an account? And do they have the corporate credit card? And do they have money on their line of credit? I don&rsquo;t think the program was designed that way. And I think a lot of the large banks ended up having egg on their face because of the filters that they ended up putting on there.&rdquo;

<h3>Technology May Have Played A Big Role</h3>

Thomas, from Freedom Bank of Virginia, said he suspects technological challenges initially played a role in making the program difficult for larger banks. His bank, which had given out roughly $263 million via over 500 loans at the time of our conversation, tried working with a fintech company, but changing rules from the SBA made that hard.&nbsp;

&ldquo;In the first round it was very difficult for any of the large banks or fintech providers to batch submit files of PPP applications to get approvals,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Because the SBA&rsquo;s E-Tran system was not conducive to receiving batch loans through APIs, it made it very difficult for the larger players and the fintech guys to gain any traction and be able to submit those loans efficiently.&rdquo;

&ldquo;[The big banks] have the technology to do far more loans, but I think it has to fit the cookie-cutter mold,&rdquo; said First Resource&rsquo;s Ranalli. &ldquo;Anything that needed a little bit of attention, if it wasn&rsquo;t cookie-cutter&mdash;the big banks were using technology that&rsquo;s kind of black and white.&rdquo;

<h3>Mix Reviews For The Small Business Administration</h3>

The four executives we spoke to had mixed things to say about the SBA&rsquo;s handling of the PPP program.&nbsp;

Gurney, from California-based Mission Valley Bank, said there&rsquo;s been frustration with the SBA&rsquo;s frequent changes to the program. For example, the SBA originally guided that contract employees were to be included in payroll counts, only to reverse that decision.&nbsp;

&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of frustration because the SBA has not been very forthcoming with guidance. The guidance we had on the night of April 2 changed on the morning of the 5th, and it&rsquo;s been doing that, where every 24-48 hours we&rsquo;ve been getting some updates that change what we were telling folks from the beginning. We had applications going that in effect had to be unwound and redone. And it&rsquo;s been like that kind of the whole time.&rdquo;

&ldquo;I honestly have to tell you from my perspective, even though it was frustrating and time-consuming in certain circumstances trying to get through, I think it was a good experience,&rdquo; said Royal Financial&rsquo;s Szwajkowski. &ldquo;Considering the heavy lifting that had to happen in a very short amount of time. There were long days for us, but I will tell you that all of our phone calls were returned from the SBA. They worked through the night, they worked on Sundays. One person spent three hours on the phone with us, they never let up.&rdquo;

Freedom Bank of Virginia&rsquo;s Thomas echoed that sentiment.&nbsp;

&ldquo;The SBA&rsquo;s been maligned through this whole thing. But we had a tremendous amount of cooperation from the SBA when we had questions.&rdquo;

<h3>Community Banks See This Moment As A Victory</h3>

The fact that many community banks were able to give out as many loans as they did was seen as a major victory for the four executives we spoke to.&nbsp;

&ldquo;That&rsquo;s one of the beauties of being a smaller bank, is we can be more nimble,&rdquo; said Gurney. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve spoken to my peers in banks around the area and we were all doing the same thing. We were in on nights and weekends, and it was an all hands on deck effort to get it done.&rdquo;

&ldquo;We&rsquo;re really pumped about all the help we&rsquo;ve been able to give to the community,&rdquo; said Ranalli. &ldquo;This is right in our wheelhouse.&rdquo;

&ldquo;Everyone&rsquo;s been talking for the last 20 years or so about how there will only be large banks in this country,&rdquo; said Szwajkowski. &ldquo;For me, what this says is there really is a purpose for the small ones. In this case, the large ones couldn&rsquo;t handle the volumes. In my estimation the community banks did a tremendous job.&rdquo;

Image source: The White House

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga&rsquo;s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.

As of the end of the first quarter, there are over 90 domestic and international banks trading on the OTCQX Best Market with an aggregate market capitalization of $94.9 billion and combined assets of more than $3.1 trillion.&nbsp;Many of these banks are local U.S. community banks, due in part to a <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/news/19/01/13058195/why-are-so-many-community-banks-going-public">surprising number of community banks going public on the OTC Markets</a> in the past few years.&nbsp;

On March 14, 2019, CEOs from 11 of these global and community banks gathered for a<a href="https://www.virtualinvestorconferences.com/events/event-details/otcqx-community-bank-conference"> virtual investor conference</a> to provide an update on business operations. Here is what each bank is focusing on:&nbsp;

<h3>Highlands Bancshares: Re-Focusing The Lending Business</h3>

Highlands Bancshares Inc (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/HBSI#OTCQX">HBSI</a>), which has 14 branches in Southwest Virginia, Western North Carolina, and Eastern Tennessee, is coming off a record financial year, according to Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer Bryan Booher.&nbsp;

In the 2018 fiscal year, the bank achieved its highest net income since 2007, its highest net interest margin since 2002, and the highest leverage ratio in the company&rsquo;s history.&nbsp;

While, historically the bank had not pursued a targeted offering, Booher indicated that a shift is underway.&nbsp;Given that the majority of the bank&rsquo;s 2018 loan portfolio focused on four key groups, Highlands plans to concentrate on these areas: construction and land, families of 1-4, owner-occupied commercial properties, and home equity loans.&nbsp;

<h3>Royal Financial: Net Interest Margin and Redefining Brick-And-Mortar</h3>

Net Interest Margin, a key metric for community banks, has been a point of concern across the industry as interest rates have risen over the last several years. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itpu1ClKWEY&amp;feature=youtu.be">Leonard Szwajkowski</a>, President and CEO of Chicago-based Royal Financial, Inc. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/RYFL#OTCQX">RYFL</a>) highlighted that point.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Net interest margin remains under pressure as it is for most banks,&rdquo; he told investors. As a result, he said the bank is focused on expanding their sources of non-interest income.&nbsp;

Szwajkowski also noted that the industry is facing a redefining of their physical locations. He keyed in on the fact that Royal Financial has continued to see mobile and online adoption rates accelerate, and, as such, has invested heavily in mobile offerings.&nbsp;

&ldquo;It is a consolidating industry,&rdquo; said Szwajkowski. &ldquo;Many banks under $200 million continue to struggle. Our plan here is to continue to improve our customer service, continue to run the bank prudently, look for organic growth and watch regulatory compliance.&rdquo;

<h3>Prime Meridian: Small Business Lending Is Key</h3>

Sammie Dixon, Vice Chairman, President and CEO of Prime Meridian Holding Company (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/PMHG#OTCQX">PMHG</a>), said the Florida-based bank is heavily focused on being a resource for small businesses seeking capital.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Fintech is going to disrupt. But from a small business perspective, people need bankers,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We feel like with the disruption in the market with the larger banks, small business lending is going to increase and people needing that opportunity to speak with a banker.&rdquo;

The quality of their assets is also important, he said, noting that the bank&rsquo;s assets have grown at a 14 percent compounded annual growth rate each year since its establishment in 2008.&nbsp;

<h3>First Resource Bank And InsCorp (holding company for INSBANK): Location, Location, Location</h3>

First Resource Bank (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/FRSB#OTCQX">FRSB</a>) is a community bank headquartered just outside Philadelphia in Chester County, Pennsylvania. According to President and CEO <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je-Z0js0xDM&amp;feature=youtu.be">Glenn Marshall</a>, suburban Philadelphia is one of the most economically attractive markets in the United States and Pennsylvania.&nbsp;

&ldquo;We couldn&rsquo;t be in a better location in Pennsylvania,&rdquo; he said. &nbsp;&ldquo;We think it rivals some of the best places in the country.&rdquo;

Marshall said the bank doesn&rsquo;t build a location anywhere where they can&rsquo;t get to $100 million in deposits within 5 years. Currently, it has branches in Exton, West Chester, and Wayne. Combined, Marshall said, those markets create a $12.5 billion deposit market.&nbsp;

&ldquo;We love the footprint that that covers for us, and what we can do to take advantage of that in the near future,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;

Jim Rieniets, President &amp; CEO of INSBANK parent company InsCorp, Inc. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/IBTN#OTCQX">IBTN</a>), highlighted the fact that the bank had gone from breakeven to $4.3 million in core earnings from 2010-2018.&nbsp;

A lot of that growth, he said, has been enabled by the bank&rsquo;s locations in the Nashville metro area. Since 2010, the area&rsquo;s population has grown 17 percent, nearly triple the national average of 6.6 percent.&nbsp;

With 120 companies expanding or relocating to Nashville since 2015, he said the bank is positioning itself to these businesses and the nearly 15,000 new jobs that come with them.&nbsp;

<h3>Freedom Bank of Virginia- Reorganizing the Balance Sheet</h3>

Joseph Thomas, President &amp; CEO of Freedom Bank of Virginia (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/FDVA#OTCQX">FDVA</a>), said that, with the Washington D.C. metro economy continuing to diversify, the bank took steps last year to reorganize its balance sheet.&nbsp;

That involved selling low-yield, long-duration municipal bonds, which reduced the bank&rsquo;s interest rate risk. The bank also funded tax-advantaged bank-owned life insurance, and reduced costs by restructuring the workforce and making changes to vendor contracts.&nbsp;

Going forward, he said the bank is focused on attracting clients in certain verticals, specifically government contracting, insurance agency/Broker, professional services, and non-profits. Freedom Bank is also seeking expansion beyond its brick-and-mortar footprint, as it has expanded its sales teams across the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area.&nbsp;

<h3>Garanti Bank and Grupo Financiero Banorte: Overcoming the Environment</h3>

Garanti Bank (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/TKGBY#OTCQX">TKGBY</a>, TKGBF)) is Turkey&rsquo;s second-largest private bank, with about $76 billion in assets as of the end of the September quarter.&nbsp;

The biggest challenge right now, said Head of Investor Relations Handan Saygin, is the weakening economic environment in Turkey. Inflation rose 25 percent last year, and the Turkish Lira fell in kind.&nbsp;

Considering that environment, and the fact that the bank has 14 percent of the consumer loan market and 12 percent of the mortgage market, the bank didn&rsquo;t see much loan growth. Therefore, Garanti is primarily focused on maintaining its liquidity and solvency. She also noted that Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (BBVA) is the bank&rsquo;s largest shareholder, owning approximately 49 percent of the company.&nbsp;

Ursula Wilhelm, head of investor relations at Mexico&rsquo;s Grupo Financiero Banorte, S.A.B. De C.V. (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/GBOOY#OTCQX">GBOOY</a>, GBOOF)), highlighted a similar theme. Banorte is Mexico&rsquo;s second-largest financial institution by assets, which much of its loan exposure to the Mexican government.&nbsp;

Mexico is expected to experience slow GDP growth in 2019 and 2020, and the banking industry&rsquo;s overall loan growth had declined each of the last three years. Despite that, the bank expects its loan portfolio to grow 7-9 percent in the fiscal year 2019.&nbsp;

<h3>Commencement Bank, Victory Bancorp, and Suncrest Bank: Take Advantage of Local Consolidation</h3>

Washington-based Commencement Bank (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/CBWA#OTCQX">CBWA</a>) is focusing on &ldquo;a conservative growth strategy that hinges on targeted M&amp;A,&rdquo; according to its CEO Hal Russell.&nbsp;

The bank, which has grown from $22 million to $357 million in assets in 12 years, completed its first merger with Thurston First Bank in 2016. In a contracting environment&mdash;Washington has gone from 107 banks headquartered in the state in 2006 to 41 today&mdash;Commencement is hoping to expand its footprint in the state. &nbsp;

The same can be said for Pennsylvania-based Victory Bancorp (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/VTYB#OTCQX">VTYB</a>).&nbsp; 
Joseph W. Major, the bank&rsquo;s chairman of the board and CEO, noted that the consolidation of 23 competitors this decade has created a windfall of in-market growth opportunities

California-based Suncrest Bank (OTCQX:<a class="ticker" href="/stock/SBKK#OTCQX">SBKK</a>) has also made M&amp;A a priority, President and CEO Ciaran McMullan noted. The bank has made three acquisitions over the last four years, acquiring Sutter Community Bank in December 2015, Security First Bank in December 2016, and Community Business Bank in May 2018.&nbsp;

You can now view the company presentations on demand through the <a href="https://www.virtualinvestorconferences.com/events/event-details/otcqx-community-bank-conference">Virtual Investor Conference portal</a>. <a href="https://www.virtualinvestorconferences.com/events/event-details/investor-conference-april-2019">Click here</a> to register for OTC Markets&rsquo; upcoming Virtual Investor Conference on April 4.&nbsp;

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