News

 

February 2007 Press  

 

Press Release Source: Community Bank Ventures, LLC

Community Bank Ventures Releases Its First Annual Report on Capital Activity In The Community Banking Industry

February 13, 2007 — San Juan Capistrano, CA.  As part of its commitment to providing the Community Banking Industry with targeted and useful industry information, Community Bank Ventures today announced the availability of the Year-End Review: 2006 Community Bank Industry Capital Activity Report.
 

The Year-End Review compiles all announced capital activity that occurred in the community bank industry during 2006. 

Community Bank Ventures has tracked capital activities in the community bank industry on a monthly basis since the CB Journal, its monthly community bank industry publication was introduced. The firm believes that this first-of-its-kind data set will reflect how active banks, specifically community banks, are in the capital markets.

Key points of the Report on Capital Activities for the Community Bank Industry in 2006:

• Mergers-and-Acquisitions: Names of buyers and sellers, acquisition price, price-to-book-value, and price-to-trailing-earnings.
• Initial Offerings: Name of organizing bank, amount sought, and price per share.
• Secondary Offerings: Name of bank, amount sought, and offering type.
• Share Repurchases: Name of bank, number of shares to repurchase, repurchase as percent of outstanding common shares, and share price at announcement.
• Stock Split and Dividends: Name of bank, split factor, and share price at announcement.

The report covers all announced activities within the United States during 2006. The company chose to focus on announced capital activities believing that this method provides a keener insight into trends of decision-making rather than closing date.

In addition to the report, Community Bank Ventures will also be providing the raw data in an Excel format.  With the raw data the firm's clients can expand and create their own reports and analysis.

The report will be sold in two formats, one electronic and one in a hard bound edition.

The electronic version (including raw data) will be priced at $495. De Novo banks will have the opportunity to purchase the report at a discount, $395.  The hard bound addition is priced at $695.

Additional information can be found on the Community Bank Ventures website.  www.communitybankventures.com/resources.
 

 About Community Bank Ventures, LLC

 

Community Bank Ventures is a professional service firm that develops and supports community banks.  The firm uniquely combines its knowledge, capabilities, and alliances to rapidly raise capital, recruit management and boards, obtain regulatory approvals, and open banks positioned for optimal success.

 

December 2006 Press  

 

Press Release Source: Community Bank Ventures, LLC

Community Bank Ventures Introduces Analytical Profile™, A Custom Research Report for Micro- and Small-Cap Community Banks

December 18, 2006 — San Juan Capistrano, CA.  As part of a continuing effort to serve micro and small-cap community banks, Community Bank Ventures today announced the availability its new community bank service - The Analytical Profile™. 

 

The Analytical Profile™ is a research-driven report on company-specific financial information and was designed to serve community banks that fall “below the radar” of bank research firms and brokerage houses. The profile will be available to both public and private community banks.

 

The two-page Analytical Profile™ includes information such as key performance ratios, market share, demographic profiles, a map of branch locations, information on top-level executives, deposit and loan composition, and period-comparable growth rates.

 

“The Analytical Profile™ is a customized report for a community bank to use for internal strategic planning, communicate with customers and the investment community,” said Jeff Rigsby, President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Bank Ventures. “CBV intends to update these comprehensive reports for clients on a quarterly basis.”

 

In addition to the financial information necessary for critical financial analysis, the Analytical Profile™ will clearly reflect the bank’s brand and include the bank’s logo.

 

“The Analytical Profile™ can level the playing field as far as investor recognition between small community banks and those followed by typical brokerage firms,” said Timothy N. Coffey, Director Research and Publications. “There is no reason any bank should be obscure to the investment community today. Moreover, it is an excellent marketing tool to use with existing and potential customers.”

 

A sample copy of the Analytical Profile™ is available at the Community Bank Ventures website (www.communitybankventures.com), under the “resources” tab.

 

 About Community Bank Ventures, LLC

 

Community Bank Ventures is a professional service firm that develops and supports community banks.  The firm uniquely combines its knowledge, capabilities, and alliances to rapidly raise capital, recruit management and boards, obtain regulatory approvals, and open banks positioned for optimal success.

 

October 2006 Press  

 

Press Release Source: Community Bank Ventures, LLC

Community Bank Ventures Introduces "CB Journal," A Monthly Publication Serving the Community Bank Industry

 

October 3, 2006 — San Juan Capistrano, CA.  Community Bank Ventures, introduced its new monthly publication, the CB Journal. 

"The CB Journal will provide useful information to community bankers, their directors, their investors, their suppliers, and their regulators. The focus of the Journal will be on both value creation for community bank customers and how value is created for investors," said Jeff Rigsby, President and CEO of Community Bank Ventures.

Each issue will be divided into three sections. The first section consists of three articles, including the top story: an interview with a leader in the community bank industry. Profiled leaders will represent community bank executives, directors, bank regulators, and industry analysts. We will highlight their experiences, observations, and how they created value for customers and investors.

The second section reviews key monthly capital activity from a national perspective. The activities covered will include: mergers and acquisitions, initial offerings, secondary offerings, stock splits, and share repurchases. This could be a very useful tool for strategic planning.

The final section covers community bank stock performances from a state or regional perspective. The critical performance measures include: closing price, month-to-date and year-to-date price changes, and relevant pricing, income statement and balance sheet ratios. While there are no set-in-stone standards for the size of a community bank, the list contains no bank with assets greater than $3 billion.

Timothy N. Coffey, Director of Research and Publications expressed his enthusiasm for the Journal, "This report – and every subsequent issue – will deliver something unavailable anywhere else. Whether it's monthly mergers-and acquisition activities, new bank issues and capital targets, or candid conversations with industry insiders, there is no other publication like this.

 

About Community Bank Ventures, LLC

 

Community Bank Ventures is a professional service firm that develops and supports community banks.  The firm uniquely combines its knowledge, capabilities, and alliances to rapidly raise capital, recruit management and boards, obtain regulatory approvals, and open banks positioned for optimal success.

 

July 2006 Press  

 

Press Release Source: Community Bank Ventures, LLC

Coffey joins the Community Bank Ventures management team as Director of Research and Publications

 

July 16, 2006 — San Juan Capistrano, CA.  Timothy N. Coffey joined the Community Bank Ventures, LLC management team as Director of Research and Publications.  Mr. Coffey’s primary responsibility will be to lead the firm's industry analysis and publications addressing ground-level community bank issues targeting directors, executives, and investors.

 

Prior to joining Community Bank Ventures, Coffey was a section editor and columnist at the San Diego Daily Transcript, the regions only daily business publication. As editor, Coffey oversaw the paper's finance section – covering national capital markets and managed the reporting staff responsible for local technology and biotech reporting. As columnist, he wrote a weekly column on San Diego’s then burgeoning community bank industry in which 15 new banks opened between 2000 and 2005.

 

Coffey also has reported for the San Diego Business Journal and The Daily Californian and, in 2003, won the 1^st Place award for Investigative Reporting from the Associated Press News Executives Council.

 

“Mr. Coffey’s division represents a critical component of our firm’s commitment to our clients and the community bank industry.  Providing useful industry information and bank performance intelligence will support our clients’ ability to optimize their performance” said Jeff Rigsby, President and CEO of Community Bank Ventures.

 

“I am proud to have Mr. Coffey join our team. In today’s banking market traditional industry analysis is not enough.  Tim is uniquely combining journalism experience and bank industry analysis to create truly valuable and useful information for our clients and key stakeholders in the community bank industry,” continued Rigsby.

 

Mr. Coffey earned his Bachelors of Arts in Economics from San Diego State University.

 

About Community Bank Ventures, LLC

 

Community Bank Ventures is a professional service firm that develops and supports community banks.  The firm uniquely combines its knowledge, capabilities, and alliances to rapidly raise capital, recruit management and boards, obtain regulatory approvals, and open banks positioned for optimal success.

 

June 2006 Press  

 

Press Release Source: Community Bank Ventures, LLC

 

Community Bank Ventures, LLC Appoints Cesar Rosas to Executive Vice President, Director of Emerging Bank Markets

 

June 2, 2006 — San Juan Capistrano, CA.  Effective June 1, 2006, Cesar Rosas joined the Community Bank Ventures, LLC management team as Executive Vice President, Director of Emerging Bank Markets.  Mr. Rosas’ primary responsibility will be to develop new bank projects on behalf of our clients in underserved markets.

 

Mr. Rosas brings more than 10 years of senior executive experience serving clients in the areas of strategic business planning, financial analysis, and business expansion.  He also has extensive experience in the areas of new market strategies and development.   Mr. Rosas most recently served as a senior consultant for DLC Inc., Costa Mesa, CA. a leading financial and accounting professional services firm.

 

“Mr. Rosas will spearhead the company’s emerging bank market strategies.  His first order of business will be to take point on three new bank projects with an emphasis on serving the Hispanic business owner and their employees” said Jeff Rigsby, President and CEO of Community Bank Ventures.

 

“We are extremely pleased to have Mr. Rosas join our team. Having an executive of his caliber leading our new market initiatives will rapidly accelerate our growth and service strategies,” continued Rigsby.

 

About Community Bank Ventures, LLC

 

Community Bank Ventures is a professional service firm that develops and supports community banks.  The firm uniquely combines its knowledge, capabilities, and alliances to rapidly raise capital, recruit management and boards, obtain regulatory approvals, and open banks positioned for optimal success.

 

April 2006 Press

Orange County Busines Journel

Startup Bank Fortis First to Target Hispanics
By Pat Maio - 4/24/2006
Orange County Business Journal Staff

Orange County has banks targeting Korean- and Vietnamese-American businesses and residents.

Now a business bank is looking to tap the county’s growing Hispanic population. Fortis Business Bank would become the first of its kind in OC.

Carlton Ellis Porter Jr., the proposed president and chief executive of Santa Ana-based Fortis, declined to comment on the bank while it’s still in the organizational stage.

“We don’t want to comment on something for what may be construed as a overstating the record with regulators,” Porter said.

Fortis recently filed with state banking regulators to organize as a state-chartered bank. It also filed with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to line up deposit insurance.

The regulatory reviews are expected to take at least a couple more weeks to wrap up. The bank plans to open in the fall after raising $12 million to $15 million in startup funds.

Fortis shares are expected to be publicly traded.

The bank is close to finalizing a lease to occupy a former Sanwa bank branch at 1666 N. Main St. The site would be its headquarters.

The building is at Main and 17th streets, one of the busiest intersections in Santa Ana. It’s next to the site where developer Michael Harrah plans to build a 37-story office building.

Fortis officials hired Community Bank Ventures, a recently formed bank consultancy in San Juan Capistrano, to help set up the bank. Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido is a Community Bank director.

OC developer Arthur B. Birtcher, head of San Juan Capistrano-based BirtcherAnderson Realty LLC, also is a director of the consultancy. He’s expected to be a Fortis board member.

Porter has a history of running small banks in Southern California.

He was involved in founding an Encino-based bank that targeted the San Fernando Valley’s pharmacists. He also headed First Valley National Bank of Lancaster before Valencia Bank & Trust bought it in 1999.

In the mid-1990s, Porter ran Santa Ana’s Corporate Bank, which was bought by Encino-based CU Bancorp. He also ran the Bank of Yorba Linda in the late 1980s.

Fortis, which plans to focus on small-business lending, has lined up several board members, including:

Isabelle Villasenor, president of Cypress-based Dejon Enterprises Inc. A resident of Corona del Mar, she operates several McDonald’s franchises in Los Angeles and OC, including two at John Wayne Airport.

Manuel J. Ramirez, president of Irvine-based Ramirez International, one of the largest Hispanic-run accounting and consulting firms in Southern California.

Brothers Alfonso Bustamante and Carlos Bustamante. Carlos is a Santa Ana councilman and assistant director of OC’s planning and development services agency. Alfonso is a psychologist.

Alfredo M. Amezcua, president of the Rancho Santiago Community College District. Amezcua is an attorney and community leader in Santa Ana.

Michael D. Metzler, chief executive of the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce.

Anthony W. Thompson, founder of Santa Ana’s Triple Net Properties LLC, which pools together investors to buy real estate. Thompson is chairman and chief executive of Triple Net.

David Seigle, a founding employee of Costa Mesa-based software maker FileNet Corp.

George L. Pla, chief executive of Los Angeles-based Cordoba Corp., an engineering and construction management company. Pla is former director of Los Angeles-based First American Bank, bought in August by Rancho Santa Fe-based First Community Bancorp.

Big banks are angling for a toehold in the growing market for banking with Hispanics.

Hispanics make up a third of OC’s 3 million-plus residents and are expected to become the majority during the next few decades.

Bank of America Corp., Union Bank of California and Banco Popular have forged strategies to reach Hispanics, some of whom have shunned traditional banks.

Banco Popular, a unit of Puerto Rico’s Popular Inc., recently moved its California bank headquarters to Anaheim from Santa Fe Springs.

All the banks use bilingual tellers. The banks back financial education programs at churches, nonprofits and schools.

The banks also have programs that let Hispanics transfer money securely to family and friends in Mexico and other Latin American countries.

OC has seen several banks targeting ethnic groups open during the past few years.

US Metro, a Korean-American bank, is in the works for Garden Grove. Buena Park-based Uniti Bank was the first bank to form in OC to serve Korean-Americans in 2001.

Other banks recently formed to serve the Vietnamese-American community, including First Vietnamese American Bank and Saigon National Bank, both in Westminster’s Little Saigon.