Independent Banker - April 2021 - 67

Texas Bank: A two-day loan turnaround
When the owner of a manufacturing company in San
Angelo, Texas, worked out a deal to sell his business
to three members of the company's management last
November, he asked his primary
bank to finance the transaction.
The buyers needed a loan of
$1.5 million and wanted to close
the deal by the end of the year.
What should have been a quick
approval evidently stymied the
bank, a large regional institution.
With just two days left in 2020,
they admitted they couldn't get
the loan done on time.
" The bank basically backburnered
the deal and didn't give
it the attention they needed, "
says Casey W. Barrett, president
and CEO of $341 million-asset
Texas Bank. " So, [the buyers]
were panicked and called us on
Tuesday, Dec. 29. "
Barrett and his colleagues leapt
into action.
" It was all hands on deck to get
the deal underwritten, " he says.
" We spent most of Tuesday on the phone talking to
the buyers and understanding their position, and then
the loan officer and I underwrote the deal. Then we
called a special meeting of the executive committee
on Wednesday. "
" We don't have the
long chains of command
and all the different
committees and different
people the regional
banks have to go through.
All they do is muddy
the water. "
-Casey W. Barrett, Texas Bank
The deal was approved just under the year-end
deadline. " We don't have so many hoops to jump
through, " Barrett says. " We don't have the long chains
of command and all the different
committees and different people
the regional banks have to go
through. All they do is muddy the
water. It was actually kind of a
no-brainer on our side. "
Texas Bank's success at closing
the deal quickly has led to a
growing relationship with the
manufacturing firm. The company
is switching all of its checking
accounts from the regional bank
to Texas Bank. Barrett says the
business plans to use the bank's
remote deposit capture and cash
management services, two features
that helped further cement its
decision to switch banks.
" Even though there's not a Texas
Bank location in the other towns
they do business in, because of
technology, we're able to offer
what the big banks offer at a
competitive price, " he says. " And on top of that, we
give the kind of service you're not going to get from a
bigger bank. "
Ed Avis is a writer in Illinois.
Helping those hit hard by COVID-19
When a community bank
recognizes an urgent need
among its neighbors, often
the quickest response is a
cash grant. First National
Bank of Las Animas
responded that way when
COVID-19 struck.
The $465 million-asset
bank in Las Animas, Colo.,
spearheaded a local grant
program that provided
$1,000 grants to about
40 local businesses and
organizations that were hit
hard by the pandemic. The
bank and local business
owners stepped up to
donate the funds, and
state funds were later
added to the program.
" The program was very
local and subjective, " says
Dale Leighty, CEO and
chairman of the board.
" We literally went out to
some people and said,
'Please apply for this, it's
what it's set up for.' We
were able to help quite a
few people. "
The bank also helped
by purchasing a quantity
of $25 and $50 gift cards
from local restaurants
and giving them to first
responders, grocery
store workers, nursing
home employees and
others dealing directly
with the coronavirus. This
effort helped both card
recipients and restaurants.
" Our restaurants were so
hard hit, " Leighty says
Because of the
generosity of First National
Bank of Las Animas,
those restaurants-along
with many other local
businesses-have a better
chance of surviving.
independentbanker.org Q 67
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Independent Banker - April 2021

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