Growth strategies

Increased investor appetite and the emergence of specialized debt ratings are expected to spur demand, and community banks are looking for ways to fund expansion and hedge against future economic downturns.

Greater Nevada Credit Union’s small business lending program has been showered with awards, including a CUJ Best Practices honor.

Its efforts earned Financial Resources FCU a 2017 Best Practices Award from CU Journal.

More than 20 different states are part of the Juntos Avanzamos network, with dozens of CUs participating from across the country.

First Reliance in South Carolina, which recently announced its first bank acquisition, is angling to take advantage of disruption caused by bigger mergers in the Carolinas.

First Bank will enter a new market and gain access to low-cost deposits after it completes the acquisition.

Howard Bancorp CEO Mary Ann Scully was so keen on buying 1st Mariner that she met with a representative of one of the Baltimore company's three largest shareholders before meeting with management, and she kept talking with them. It worked.

Best Practices Awards offer a wealth of field-tested ideas to improve your credit union.

The company agreed to buy Commercial Bancshares for $59 million in stock.

Bob Ramsey, who had worked for FBR Capital Markets for more than a decade, will handle investor relations and strategic planning at Customers.