As chairman of a two hundred million bank holding company we are
appreciating the relaxation of CRA requirements. Not that there was any
question about our serving all the people in the five hundred to four
thousand populated communities in which we are located.
With the on set of Internet and telephone banking even in communities
where we are the only bank those residents have an alternative. But more
important we are trying to keep those communities alive and therefore
bend over backwards to accommodate and promote.
The synergies in banking will require us to continually expand to be
able to compete technologically in the financial field. Will we ever
approach two hundred and fifty-million?
We will have to if we are going to be able to effectively serve
enough customers to offset the cost ot personel,training, new equipment
and capital requirements.
In conclusion, thank you for lessing the regulatory burden at our
level and as we must grow please extend that level to five hundred
million.