The Small Business Administration is testing a program meant to encourage more community banks and credit unions to make government-guaranteed loans in rural markets.

First Sound Bank in Seattle has an agreement to buy Puget Sound Leasing Co. in Bellevue, Wash.

An active acquirer for much of the 1990s, Frontier Financial Corp. of Everett, Wash., lost out on a number of potential deals this decade by being outbid by larger companies with deeper pockets.

Atlantic Southern Bank of Macon, Ga., will open its first Florida branch in Jacksonville.

Venture Financial Group Inc. of DuPont, Wash., is postponing its initial public offering.

Mutual of Omaha's foray into banking is still in the formative stage, but the insurer has already made clear it wants its operation to have a higher stand-alone retail profile than those run by rivals.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

Pulaski Financial Corp. in St. Louis said that Christopher K. Reichert, the executive vice president in charge of its mortgage operations, has resigned to pursue other opportunities.

Old National Bancorp Inc. in Evansville, Ind., has struck a deal to sell and lease back 25 of its branches and said it has an agreement in place to sell and lease back dozens more.

First Horizon National Corp.'s decision to unload its Texas branches came at a perfect time for Sterling Bancshares Inc. of Houston.

Kenneth E. Buhrmaster, a top executive at the $270 million-asset 1st National Bank of Scotia in New York for 60 years before retiring in 2005, died Sunday. He was 92.

Speculation about a sale of TCF Financial Corp. is stirring again, but analysts said if TCF is shopping itself, it could struggle to get a good price.

Frontier Financial Corp., in a move to strengthen its presence in western Washington, on Wednesday agreed to acquire Washington Banking Co. for $191.1 million, or $21.40 a share.

ShoreBank Corp. in Chicago is wading into the subprime crisis with a plan to refinance thousands of subprime home loans into traditional mortgages.

Five months after closing the acquisition, Bank of Florida Corp. in Naples has completed the integration and rebranding of Old Florida Bank of Fort Myers.

WSB Financial Group Inc. in Bremerton, Wash., is cutting jobs in response to a slowdown in its mortgage business.

First Ipswich Bancorp in Massachusetts plans to sell its 10-story office building in downtown Boston and use the proceeds to increase lending.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Pittsfield, Mass., said Friday that it has completed its $82 million acquisition of Factory Point Bancorp in Manchester Center, Vt.

Sound Community Bank in Seattle plans to go partially public.