ABA Banking Journal - November 2007 - (Page 20)

Community Banking Pass the Aspirin: How are you handling return of FDIC assessments? p.24 “The Moose Bank” thrives on manufactured housing loans ike a chemical reaction that comes together because of a catalyst, sometimes divergent life experiences of bankers have a way of coming together to create new opportunities for their institutions just when they need some fresh territory for growth. James Tibbetts had a varied career in New Hampshire finance, starting off in public accounting and switching to work for a bank client. Along the way, through a series of mergers, he found himself wanting a change of pace, and worked for two years for a community development corporation that stressed investment in housing. Over the years, Tibbetts had also helped his in-laws manage and operate a mobile home park that they’d invested in, during the 1970s and 1980s. This experience taught him many things about the somewhat wrongly-named homes. “Mobile homes” aren’t so much “mobile” like a Winnebago, but mobile in the sense that they are factory built, and transported by flatbed truck to their ultimate installation site. At one time mobile homes, referred to as “manufactured L housing” today, had a reputation for shoddy workmanship and poor durability, sometimes earned, sometimes not. But Tibbetts says his experience helping his in-laws taught him that, in the wake of federal code reforms, the product was of decent quality, and often attractive. And he also tucked away another observation: Often the credit terms offered to people buying manufactured homes were quite high. Many lenders treated (some still treat) the structures not as homes eligible for mortgage-level rates, but more like automobiles or other high-ticket consumer items. “There was a market there that wasn’t being serviced,” says Tibbetts, president and CEO of First Colebrook Bank, a $188.6 million-assets bank that has served the state’s “North Country” for more than 100 years. By Steve Cocheo, executive editor Finding good ideas at home Indeed, that longevity way up in New Hampshire was a legacy— and a limitation. “In Colebrook we had 70% of the market, and the market wasn’t growing anymore,” says Tibbetts. The upstate economy is driven almost exclusively by logging 20 NOVEMBER 2007/ABA BANKING JOURNAL www.ababj.com/subscribe.html http://www.firstcolebrookbank.com http://www.ababj.com/subscribe.html

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

ABA Banking Journal - November 2007 Contents Editor’s Column Briefing: Good News for Mortgages Sleight of Mind N.Y. Hiring Bonanza May Be Bane Snapshot: A Look at Held-For-Investment Loan Growth ABA Resources ABA Chairman’s Position “The Moose Bank” Thrives on Manufactured Housing Loans Finding the Middle Way for Your Bank’s Retirement Program Pass the Aspirin Cover Story: Self-Service Steps Up DIY U.K. Style Marketing to Millennials Getting Real With “Gen Wired” Ethnic Marketing: Disinterested Banking Getting Good at Global Sourcing Case in Point Turn Compliance on It's Head Banker’s Mart To Advertise/Index of Advertisers The Economy

ABA Banking Journal - November 2007

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