Mr. Branca: VSB Bancorp is the holding company for Victory State Bank, which was formed in 1997 by a group of local business people on Staten Island, one of the boroughs of New York City. Victory State Bank was formed to address the gap in the business needs of the customers on Staten Island. There was a former bank here that was merged out of existence who primarily dealt with business customers. Since its merger, there was a huge opening where people were dissatisfied with their current banks and how they were handling commercial accounts. So myself and my Chairman, Joseph LiBassi, got together and formulated a plan to form a new bank on Staten Island, first one in New York actually in 17 years. We put the plan together to address the business needs of the communities on Staten Island, specifically. Victory State Bank and VSB Bancorp now have five branch locations on Staten Island, about 225 million in assets, and we have grown steadily throughout our 12-year history.
TWST: With unemployment numbers in New York at about 10.3%, what's the economic backdrop like there? What characterizes the region at your end, and what is your outlook for it and for your customers?
Mr. Branca: New York City certainly has a high unemployment rate and it translates of course to the boroughs like Staten Island itself, where we are located. It creates a problem with collecting loans on a general basis. But we believe the outlook to be a slow-grinding recovery. We don't expect anything dramatic. We are all hoping we don't get a double-dip recession here based upon any issues such as inflation and the taxes that are being considered both at the federal, state and local level. This will further hurt businesses and small banks like Victory State Bank.
Tickers included in this excerpt: VSBN
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does not make stock recommendations.