Mr. Alley: Integra Bank Corporation has been around since 1850 in one form or another and has gone through a series of acquisitions, mergers and name changes. The current name of Integra Bank actually dates back to May of 2000. Prior to that, it was known as the National City Bank of Evansville and had been that for a number of years. Our primary market area is the tri-state area of Southwest Indiana, Southeastern Illinois, and Central and Western Kentucky. Currently, we have 69 banking centers or retail offices throughout that market area. The realm of our services encompasses a traditional community banking environment offering lending, depository and investment services to consumers and small- to medium-size businesses. In addition, we offer wealth management and trust services to individuals, businesses and government entities. As you can imagine, it's a very competitive environment. We compete with multiple banks, some larger and some smaller, in our markets. Many of our 69 banking offices are located in rural communities in the tri-state area, with the largest metropolitan area being Evansville, with an MSA population of about 350,000 people.
TWST: Give us an economic review of what the region looks like and how it's performed over the past year, What are the growth areas and the bright spots in your geography?
Mr. Alley: We have historically enjoyed a very strong agricultural, coal mining and traditional manufacturing base. In addition, our location has made the tri-state area a hub for health care, postsecondary education and retail services. Our unemployment rate in the Evansville metropolitan area, for example, is around 9.2%, which is slightly below that of other Midwestern metro areas. We also have pediatric nutrition and research, financial services, energy, and automotive manufacturing and supply as strong points. Historically, we have been the refrigeration capital of the world, though much of this manufacturing has migrated to plants outside the United States.
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