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| Bank of Commerce Completes Opening of Four Texas Loan Offices |
SAN DIEGO, June 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of Commerce (Nasdaq: BCOM) has opened four new loan production offices (LPOs) in the state of Texas serving the small business lending market. The new offices serving Houston, Dallas- Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio all operate under the name of Commerce Loan Company, a division of Bank of Commerce. "To staff the four new Texas offices, we have already hired eight (8) experienced Small Business Administration (SBA) business development officers (BDOs). In total, these BDOs produced $60 million in SBA loans during the last year for their previous employers," said Peter Q. Davis, Chairman and CEO, Bank of Commerce. In 1997, Bank of Commerce -- the nation's leading SBA bank lender -- produced $180 million in SBA loan funds. The opening of the Texas offices with such a strong team of professional development officers should substantially increase the Bank's production in the future. The four Texas offices are under the direction of Emerson Hall, newly named senior vice president/SBA Eastern regional sales manager. The Eastern Region will also include the new offices planned to open in Atlanta in August and in Chicago later this year. In all, Bank of Commerce now operates 16 loan production offices in seven states -- California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, as well as Texas. During the third quarter Bank of Commerce also expects to open new loan offices in both Salt Lake City, Utah and Fresno, California. Another office is tentatively planned for Boise, Idaho by year end. Bank of Commerce has been an SBA lender for 23 years and was among the first banks to participate with the SBA, which will facilitate the lending of approximately $11 billion in capital for small business expansion this year. Based in San Diego, Bank of Commerce SBA loans in its portfolio increased 19.6 percent to $341 million at March 31, 1998 from $285 million a year earlier. These loans provide an excellent source of future income, capital and liquidity. In addition to being the nation's leading SBA bank lender, Bank of Commerce is also the largest publicly held bank headquartered in San Diego, based on asset size, with present assets of $732 million. The Bank has ten full-service branch offices including the three just acquired through the Rancho Vista merger. Its other branch offices are located in San Diego, Palm Desert and Temecula, California.SOURCE Bank of Commerce
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