Talk about long courtships.
After nearly a century of off-again, on-again negotiations, the New Jersey Bankers Association and the New Jersey League of Community Bankers appear close to merging. Though a final decision is not expected for another six weeks, the groups are conducting due diligence on each other's books and even a critic says the combination has wide support from both boards and most of the member banks.
In a column published last month in New Jersey Banker, the association's quarterly magazine, chairman Theodore D. Bessler noted at least two attempts in recent years to negotiate a merger.
But Sam Damiano, the league's president, said that discussions go back much further - to 1908. He says he has a set of league minutes from that year that mention the possibility of a merger.
"Some things take longer than others," said Mr. Damiano, whose group is made up primarily of thrifts. He added that growing similarities between banks and thrifts, as well as his pending retirement after 26 years as president, make a merger likely.
"I think what gives it some impetus at this juncture is the fact that … I retire at the end of the year," he said.
If the two groups do combine, they would be following the example set by bank and thrift trade associations throughout the country in the last decade or so. As the industry has consolidated, so have groups in North Carolina, Indiana, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and more than a dozen other states.
Not everyone favors the proposed New Jersey union. Gerard Banmiller, the president and chief executive officer of the $160 million-asset 1st Colonial National Bank in Collingswood, said he would quit the New Jersey Bankers Association if it merged with the league.
"This is not a merger that is made in heaven," he said. "We won't be able to speak with one voice, because we'd still be two organizations. The cultural clash is too significant."
Mr. Banmiller acknowledged, however, that there is a lot of momentum behind the deal and that his opposition "isn't going to stop it."
Mr. Damiano said he supported entering into exploratory talks with the association but that the ultimate decision is up to the boards.
Mr. Bessler, the president and CEO of the $152 million-asset Shore Community Bank in Toms River, was out of the office on vacation and unavailable for comment. The league's chairman, Raymond G. Hallock, the president and CEO of the $3.6 billion-asset Columbia Bank in Fair Lawn, was also on vacation.
