Community Banks

Howard hospital appoints Cservek to public relations post Kevin M. Cservek has been named senior communications project manager, assigned to the public relations department of Howard County General Hospital. He will work on internal and external communications, and will help to implement a new physician portal on the hospital's Web site. Cservek joined the hospital this year after five years as senior public relations specialist at Harbor Hospital in Baltimore. He is a graduate of Towson University.

Annapolis consultant named to roundtable of black caucus Alexander and Cleaver government relations consultant Ivan Lanier was appointed to the Corporate Roundtable of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. The round table is made up of business people from around the country and was organized to provide policy advice on business issues to the caucus. The caucus was founded in 1977 and consists of more than 600 legislators from 46 states representing more than 20 million voters.

You can already buy groceries, school supplies and lawn mowers at mega-department stores - not to mention that puppy the kids have been begging for. Now Congress is considering allowing retail behemoths to handle your checking and savings accounts, too. The change could create The First National Bank of Wal-Mart. How about Sears Bank & Trust? Or Volkswagen Commerce Bank? Banks inside supermarkets and some department stores have become commonplace. But those are existing banks partnering with stores.

At a banking conference in North Carolina late last year, bankers from across this country and Canada were bemoaning the sorry state of their industry: Low interest rates were squeezing profit margins, problem loans were on the rise and the North American economy was down for the count with no rebound in sight. Baltimore banker Edwin F. Hale Sr., one of the scheduled speakers, had arrived at the conference with no such complaints. He had already known that this area's community banks were performing well.

Columbia Bancorp said yesterday that its second-quarter net income jumped nearly 20 percent to $2.32 million, while its total assets reached a record level of nearly $1 billion. Columbia, the parent company of Columbia Bank, said diluted per-share earnings rose 18.5 percent, to 32 cents a share in this year's second quarter from 27 cents a share in the second three months of last year. Columbia said its net income increased 19.6 percent to $2.32 million in the second three months of this year from $1.94 million during the corresponding quarter a year ago. "We were very pleased with the quarter," said John A. Scaldara Jr., chief financial officer.

With the economy sinking into recession, leaders from a dozen community banks in the mid-Atlantic region gathered in Baltimore over the past two days to give the investment industry a glimpse into their companies and laud their financial health. "It's a very successful conference," said William J. Reuter, president of Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. of Lititz, Pa. "I attended on Monday a Wall Street analyst conference that was well done, but the crowd here is twice as big." Several bank leaders spoke of the Baltimore-Washington corridor's economic allure, with its strong base of government jobs.

WASHINGTON -- Listen to urban activists talk about the 22-year-old law that directs banks to make loans in distressed neighborhoods, and you'll hear rhapsodies about how well lenders do by doing good.Listen to Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, the new chairman of the Senate banking committee, talk about the same requirements, and you'll hear a single word: "Extortion." And Gramm is willing to tie up major banking reform in an effort to do something about it."Phil's a strong leader," said Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a fellow Republican on the banking committee who is more supportive of the community lending laws.

OCCASIONALLY, the little guy wins. After a year of resisting a takeover from First Mariner Bancorp, Glen Burnie Bancorp was able to chase off the larger banking company and its principal shareholder, Edwin F. Hale Sr.The cost of Glen Burnie's independence was considerable, however. First Mariner received $5.6 million, allowing it to reap a $1 million profit on the stake it bought a year ago. The payment reduced Glen Burnie's capital by 27 percent, substantial for any financial institution.