Goleta, Los Robles Banks Plan to Merge but Keep Roots Intact

As mergers involving the Bank of A. Levy and Ventura County National Bank would suggest, small banks are becoming more scarce. And though such banks still exist, they may lack the finances to keep pace with larger financial institutions.

Officials at banks in Thousand Oaks and Goleta, however, have come up with a plan to combine what they see as the best of both worlds--maintaining a community-style approach while gaining the financial standing and providing the services of a larger institution.

Los Robles Bancorp, the parent company of Los Robles Bank, has signed a letter of intent with Goleta National Bank to sell a portion of the Los Robles corporation to Goleta stockholders. The resulting multibank holding company would be renamed Community West Bancshares.

Neither Los Robles Bank nor Goleta National Bank would be affected by the transaction, with all officers and employees remaining in place. The transaction is expected to take about six months to finalize.

“We are trying to grow without losing our identity,” said Robert Hamilton, president and chief executive of Los Robles Bank. “The whole purpose is to try to have the economies of scale of a large holding company, but to try to protect our local bank franchise.”

The board of directors of Community West Bancshares would include six members from each participating bank.

Michael Alexander, chairman of Goleta National Bank, would serve as chairman of the holding company, and Los Robles Bank Chairman Jerry Miller would be vice chairman of Community West Bancshares.

Lew Stone, president and chief executive of Goleta National Bank, would serve as president and chief executive of Community West Bancshares, and Hamilton would serve as executive vice president.

Hamilton said the merger would allow the two banks to remain small while sharing certain financial burdens. Among the benefits, he said, would be the ability to hire a compliance officer to ensure that the banks are in line with regulations, as well as a human resources officer.

“Small banks just can’t do that,” he said. “But once you get several banks under one holding company, there are a lot of things you can do to make it more feasible.”

Aside from the financial savings, Hamilton said Goleta National Bank and Los Robles Bank complement each other in their services.

“There are certain loan products one bank does that the other doesn’t do and those will become available to both banks,” he said. “They [Goleta] have preferred lender status for [Small Business Administration] loans. They have an infrastructure for HUD Title 1 loans. We have a modified accounts receivable financing they don’t have and we have a CD deposit alternative investment.”

Preferred SBA status alHlows a bank to grant and liquidate loans without first receiving approval from the Small Business Administration. Goleta National Bank has that status throughout California and Nevada.

Though Community West Bancshares initially will consist of just the two banks, Hamilton said officials have begun to put the idea out to other Southern California banks.

“We have had a couple of informal conversations about it,” he said. “As it starts showing benefits to both banks, others will start to notice it more.”

Hamilton said the holding company would be open to established, well-run banks with about $50 million to $100 million in assets.

Los Robles Bank, which specializes in lending to small- and medium-size businesses, has offices in Westlake Village and Camarillo, along with its Thousand Oaks headquarters. The bank had assets of $93.5 million at the end of 1996.

Goleta National Bank, headquartered in Goleta, has loan production offices in Santa Ana, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Bakersfield, Fresno and Las Vegas. The bank had year-end assets of $80.7 million.