re: #104 wrenchwench

I started my bike shop when a guy I used to ride with told me I could do a better job if I opened my own shop than if I stayed at the shop I was working at with and for two bozos. He said I could get a loan. He was the president of a local bank. I submitted the business plan I had been working on (once in a while) for ten years. I got the ‘yes’ in half an hour. (He also let me ride without fear on some private property; ‘I know the owners, they won’t mind, I hold the paper on this’.)

Community banking went downhill when the feds allowed S&Ls to branch out into investment banking, and banks to operate across state boundaries. Sure, it helped the banking industry and made them more competitive, but the collateral damage was customer service. How many people know the president of their bank personally now?