ABA Banking Journal - August 2007 - (Page 4)

Editor’s Column WILLIAM W. STREETER Editor-in-Chief Banking ABA JOURNAL USPS-544-030 AUGUST 2007 VOL. XCIX, NO. 8 Editorial and Executive Offices: 345 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y. 10014-7115 Phone: (212) 620-7210 Fax: (212) 633-1165 E-mail: ababj@sbpub.com Internet: http://www.ababj.com Published monthly for the American Bankers Association by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp. and copyrighted 2007 by ABA; Edward L. Yingling, President, 1120 Connecticut Ave., N.W.,Washington, D.C. 20036, (202) 663-5000. Title registered in U.S. Patent Office. With the exception of official Association announcements, the American Bankers Association disclaims responsibility for opinions expressed and statements made in articles or advertisements published in ABA Banking Journal. Go hug a branch HAVE YOU EVER WORKED LATE, looked out your office window, and noticed how many office buildings are lit well into the night? Some of this could be other people working late, of course. But most likely the lights are left on for cleaning crews who don’t show up until late. In speaking with PNC Financial’s director of real estate for an article on “green branches” accompanying the cover story (p. 25), we came to realize that good stewardship of corporate resources, which can be labeled “green” or “sustainability” or whatever you’d like, often boils down to asking questions and using your head. Take the matter of the lights at night. Gary Saulson told us that the usual practice at PNC was to have cleaning crews come in well after most people had left for the day—in PNC’s case from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Beginning this month, the bank will have cleaning crews show up at 4:00 p.m. and finish at 9:00 p.m. They will start by emptying trash cans and other non-disruptive jobs. The change will reduce lighting use significantly. Does that make Saulson a “tree-hugger”? “I used to think of ‘green buildings’ as dirt floors, straw walls, and Birkenstocks,” he admits. Not anymore. Now he just thinks they’re the right thing to do and bring many benefits for employees, shareholders, and the community. Going by Saulson’s experience, as you embrace the concept of good environmental stewardship, you begin to ask more questions, such as “Why are we installing 60-80 gal. water heaters in every branch?” It’s a question Saulson asked, and then concluded that for washing hands and janitorial use, a 5 gal. unit or even an “instant hot” tap would suffice, bringing immediate cost savings. Not all changes are that easy to do or to justify. Recycling demolition debris and capturing the dust created by the demolition, for example, which are both required as part of a certification program run by the U.S. Green Building Council, are more demanding. But think about it next time you see the trash haulers lined up to cart away dumpster after dumpster of the gutted office walls and fixtures that will be replaced with new drywall and fixtures. Upgrades are needed and they create jobs, but the process is often unnecessarily wasteful. Ten years ago you had to be a pioneer to address these things. Now it’s easier and less costly. The same goes for changes in the work environment—lighting, air quality, ergonomics. Most of us spend more time in our offices than we do in our homes. While the afternoon “slow period” common to many workplaces can’t be attributed solely to air quality, stale air certainly can affect productivity. Business tends to go whichever way the wind blows. Right now the wind is blowing toward a greater awareness about environmental excesses and abuses. There’s obviously a significant political component to all this. And now that it’s fashionable to be green, there are also blatant attempts to cash in on the image with no substance, along with, on the other hand, a crop of extreme or impractical ideas. Strip all that away, however, and there is a core truth involved: waste not, want not, as the proverb goes. If the “green” label bothers you, skip it. The principles of thrift, moderation, and good stewardship don’t need any label. They are as valid as they have always been. And as the above examples illustrate, applying such principles doesn’t require self-denial, just a little common sense. bstreeter@sbpub.com Editor-in-Chief Executive Editor Senior Editor Editorial Assistant Art Director Associate Art Director Art Production Manager Contributing Editors Leslie T. Callaway Lucy Griffin Kenneth Kehrer Lisa Valentine Advisory Committee Jeffrey S. Owen Production Director Circulation Director Publisher William W. Streeter bstreeter@sbpub.com Steve Cocheo scocheo@sbpub.com Lauren Bielski lbielski@sbpub.com Andrea Rovira arovira@sbpub.com Wendy Williams wwilliams@sbpub.com Phil Desiere pdesiere@sbpub.com Todd M. Blanchard tblanchard@sbpub.com Ed Blount Nancy Derr-Castiglione Karen Kahler Holliday Bill Orr Edward L. Yingling Virginia Dean Mary Conyers-Brown mbrown@sbpub.com Tom Leader tleader@sbpub.com Gus Blumberg gblumberg@sbpub.com Subscriptions: Call 1-800-895-4389 or write to: Subscription Dept., ABA Banking Journal, P.O. Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010 Subscription rates: One Year: Commercial Banks/Holding Companies FREE to qualified subscribers in the US; Commercial Banks/Holding Companies (Canada) $35.00; Other Businesses (U.S. & Can.) $50; Foreign (Air Mail) $295 Two Years: Commercial Banks/Holding Companies (Canada) $60.00; Other Businesses (U.S. & Can.) $90; Foreign (Air Mail) $555 Single copy rate: $18 (U.S. & Canada); $75 (Foreign) : Reprints: PARS International Corp. phone: 212-221-9595 / fax: 212-221-9195 e-mail: SBPCreprints@parsintl.com. : Research: full text of ABA Banking Journal is available on Nexis, a proprietary electronic database http://www.nexis.com. ABA Banking Journal (ISSN 01945947, USPS 544-030) is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp., 345 Hudson St., NY, N.Y. 10014-4502. Periodical Class postage paid at New York, N.Y. and additional mailing offices. Canada Post Cust. #7204564; Bleuchip Int’l, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2; Agreement #41094515. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ABA Banking Journal, P.O. Box 10, Omaha, NE 68101-0010. 4 AUGUST 2007/ABA BANKING JOURNAL www.ababj.com/subscribe.html http://www.ababj.com http://www.usgbc.org http://www.usgbc.org https://www.pnc.com http://www.nexis.com http://www.ababj.com/subscribe.html

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ABA Banking Journal - August 2007

Contents Editor's Column The Unbankers Snapshot: Do Share Repurchases Signal More M&A Activity Sleight of Mind Goals Behind Proposed ABA/ACB Merger ABA Resources ABA Chairman's Position Should You Sell Those Nonperformers Pass the Aspirin Branch Design - Evoking a Sense of Place Two Banks Take the LEED Move Over, Buddy Service Feature: Bankers' Banks Directory Websites: What's State of the Art for Banks? Citi Mobile to Go Strong with iPhone? Date First, Marry Later Mailbox Banker's Mart To Advertise/Index of Advertisers The Economy

ABA Banking Journal - August 2007

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