How has your bank fared in these unprecedented, turbulent times?
Panic, Desperation, Anxiety, Crisis, Fear; all words we have heard and come to live
with in 2008. Never in our history has there been more of a lack of customer confidence
in the financial industry. One Wall Street broker was quoted, “the last twelve months
on Wall Street can be described as going from Nirvana to Armageddon.” The herd mentality
rules during a crisis as people are wired to follow the crowd when times are uncertain.
Nationally, banks are experiencing an unprecedented lack of liquidity. The government’s
involvement on a national level to inject capital and the bank’s willingness to
work with our local customers will restore confidence in the financial system.
Our philosophy, born in 1998 of strong directors and management leadership, is the
underlying reason our bank has remained strong. Over two years ago, our board and
management team saw signs of trouble in the residential-construction lending market.
Our board and management group stayed the course and made a conscious decision not
to participate in any form of reckless lending. We felt subprime lending was a product
that would violate the very integrity of our lending philosophy and the foundation
on which this bank was built.
Southern Arizona Community Bank is as strong today as it was before this crisis.
We were pleased with the recent move by the FDIC to increase insurance to $250,000
per depositor. Banks are rebuilding customer confidence.
Thank you for your continued support. We appreciate you and your business. Please
tell your friends about us.
— John P. Lewis, President & CEO