Mr. Nasca: Evans Bancorp is a 90-year-old community-based financial services company providing banking, insurance and investment services in the western New York market area. It was started in Evans, N.Y., by a concerned group of citizens back in 1920. We now have 13 bank branches and a very sizable insurance agency with 15 offices. About 35% of our total revenue is derived from non-interest income categories, most of which is generated by our insurance business. Evans is a relationship-focused organization serving as a trusted advisor to our customers and an employer of choice for top talent. We consider ourselves the last local community bank standing in our region because a lot of the other banks that are headquartered here are much larger and focused on other markets, such as HSBC, M&T and First Niagara.
TWST: As we approach the anniversary of the Lehman collapse and the onset of this severe recession, how has Evans faired so far?
Mr. Nasca: The bank has faired very well. We have actually grown almost $70 million in assets over the past year. And including our recent acquisition of Waterford Village Bank, which took place on July 24 of this year, assets are now up more $110 million over the previous year. As of the second quarter, our core loan growth, excluding the leasing portfolio, grew at about 22% on an annualized basis while our average demand deposits increased approximately 31%. Net interest income was up almost 19% over last year's second quarter. We have one area that has been impacted by the recession, and that is our national leasing portfolio. We've ceased that operation as of the second quarter and marked the portfolio as "held for sale" through the loan provision, as we try to sell the portfolio. We are just shy of 11% in capital, so we are in a strong position. Community banks have been very successful in navigating these waters because they typically have strong capital. The difference between the Wall Street banks and the Main Street banks is that the Wall Street banks made risky decisions. They've paid some of the price for that. The Main Street banks never got involved in those activities and have faired considerably better through this problem economy.
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