When Congress created the Agricultural Development Bond Program in 1981, the aim was to encourage banks to lend to young farmers and ranchers who, because of their limited credit histories, had little access to capital.

First Banks Inc. of St. Louis has agreed to buy International Bank of California in Los Angeles.

Citizens Financial Group of Providence, R.I., said Tuesday that it would change the name on its eight branches in Butler County, Pa., to Charter One Bank.

Texas United Bancshares Inc. of La Grange, which had said it wanted to expand in the state's biggest metropolitan markets, has a deal to buy Gateway National Bank in Dallas for $41 million in cash and stock.

ITLA Capital Corp. in La Jolla, Calif., said first-quarter earnings declined 59% from a year earlier, to $5.7 million, because of the termination of a lucrative tax-refund loan deal with Household Finance Inc.

Capitol Bancorp Ltd. in Lansing, Mich., is planning to establish two banks in California.

First Community Bancshares Inc. in Bluefield, Va., said its first-quarter earnings rose 43% from a year earlier, to $6 million, largely because of an acquisition and its exit from the wholesale mortgage banking business.

For the first time in nearly a year, the top executives at Dime Community Bancshares Inc. in Brooklyn, N.Y., are talking about growth.

Continuing its southern California acquisition spree, First Community Bancorp in Rancho Santa Fe has struck a deal to buy the $245 million-asset First American Bank in Rosemead for $62.3 million in cash.

Weeks after saying it expected to report a first-quarter loss, Irwin Financial Corp. of Columbus, Ind., announced Friday that it turned a small profit.

By most measures, community banking companies had a good first quarter that included improved net interest margins and solid gains in loans and deposits.

Carver Bancorp Inc. reported lower net income for the three- and 12-month periods that ended March 31 but said the branches and automated teller machines it has added are beginning to pay off through deposit, loan, and fee income increases.

Epic Bancorp, a small San Rafael, Calif., company that caters to wealthy customers, has started an investment management arm that its chief executive officer plans to expand aggressively in the next few years.

First-quarter net income at Signature Bank surged 117%, to $5.7 million, the New York company said Thursday.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. of San Antonio said Wednesday that its first-quarter earnings rose 13.6% from a year earlier, to $37.4 million.

SOUTHEAST

Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, D-N.Y., has introduced a bill that would reverse the sweeping changes made to the Small Business Administration's 7(a) loan program last year.

As expected, Commercial Federal Corp. in Omaha reported a significant first-quarter loss as a result of its decisions to exit the mortgage servicing and wholesale mortgage origination businesses.

When starting up a bank or putting a branch in a new community, don't underestimate the benefits of luring popular employees from the established banks there.

For several years some California community banks have made themselves profit standouts by concentrating on the fast-growing Chinese-American and Korean-Americans communities, known for entrepreneurship and saving.