There's at least one banker out there who's asking his employees to sleep on the job.

FirstBank NW Corp. of Clarkston, Wash., announced Friday that earnings for its first fiscal quarter rose 19.3%, to $1.9 million.

Loans that qualify for credit under the Community Reinvestment Act have been scarce in Old National Bancorp's rural markets, but new federal rules scheduled to take effect next month may change that.

The American Bankers Association filed a brief Friday supporting Community Credit Union of Plano, Tex., in its suit against the National Credit Union Administration.

First Security Group Inc. of Chattanooga, Tenn., went public Wednesday and in its first two days of trading sold nearly 80% of the 4.5 million shares in its offering.

America's Community Bankers has updated its guide to organizing board committees.

Wilmington Savings Fund Society president Marvin N. Schoenhals recently recounted an anecdote that he said best illustrates how the WSFS Financial Corp. unit was able to double the size of its commercial portfolio in less than three years.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

BancorpSouth Inc. of Tupelo, Miss., is acquiring the $347 million-asset American State Bank Corp. of Jonesboro, Ark.

Determining which bank will be the next to sell is a favorite guessing game among investors and analysts. A sudden stock price spike, an alarming drop in deposit share, or a crippling enforcement order could all be signs of an imminent takeover.

First BancTrust Corp., of Paris, Ill., said Tuesday that its second-quarter net income rose 23%, to $400,000. Diluted earnings per share rose 31%, to 17 cents.

Talk about long courtships.

Pacific Capital Bancorp executives may have thought they had good explanations for why the company reported a 12% drop in its second-quarter earnings and lowered its full-year earnings estimates, but investors were not moved.

Heritage Commerce Corp. in San Jose, Calif., said its second-quarter profits more than quadrupled from the year-earlier period, a gain it attributed to its lower overhead.

Pacific Premier Bancorp of Costa Mesa, Calif., plans to open a branch in Cypress as part of a plan to expand in Orange County.

Citizens Bancshares Corp. in Atlanta has appointed Cynthia Day as a senior vice president and the chief operating officer.

When executives at Commercial Capital Bancorp Inc. in Irvine, Calif., learned that a top deposit generator at Comerica Inc. was looking for a new home, they jumped at an opportunity to bring in a rainmaker - and his team - who would help the fast-growing company lower its funding costs.

(From The Credit Union Journal)

The Internet-only American Bank Inc. of Allentown, Pa., is thinking about buying PSB Bancorp Inc. of Philadelphia, which put itself on the block this year.