Posted on: Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Bank's keyword is small
By Rick Daysong
Advertiser Staff Writer
The booming local economy and more than a decade of consolidation are creating a niche for the latest entrant to Hawai'i's banking industry.
Pacific Rim Bank, the first local company to file a commercial bank application since 1989, plans to open a single-branch bank at Restaurant Row that will cater to small businesses and commercial real estate borrowers.
Austin Imamura, the bank's chief executive officer, said the company hopes to begin operating on Nov. 1 after it obtains state and federal regulatory approval and completes construction on its offices. He said the company will initially employ between 15 and 17 full-time workers.
"While we have excellent banks, everybody tells us they are looking for another alternative and we hope to provide another choice for Hawai'i," Imamura said.
Pacific Rim, which filed an application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said it intends to raise between $10 million and $12 million in capital.
The company cited the strength of Hawai'i's banking industry, which last year enjoyed a 7 percent increase in deposits and a 7.6 percent jump in total loans.
The new bank will employ Mark Southwick, a former president of Raymond, Wash.-based Harbor Community Bank, as chief financial officer.
Pacific Rim's board will include Imamura; Southwick; ResortQuest Hawaii LLC President Kelvin Bloom; Maui construction executive Dwayne Betsill; Avalon Health Care i Hawaii Executive Director David Kowalski; Ernest Lum, president of Ernest K.F. Lum Construction Inc.; and Gary Iki, a former Bank of Hawaii executive who now heads local investment banking firm Blackpoint Capital Advisors LLC.
Pacific Rim's application comes as Hawai'i's banking industry has shrunk considerably in recent years. Since 1990, the number of banks and thrifts operating in Hawai'i has fallen from 26 to six today, the company said in its application with the state Division of Financial Institutions.
Imamura was a longtime employee of Central Pacific Bank before joining competitor City Bank. Last year, Central Pacific acquired City Bank in a deal valued at $420 million. Imamura said he retired from City Bank shortly after the merger.
Pacific Rim cited letters from local small businesses that have been affected by the industry consolidations.
Wallace Kazama, president of Kazama Enterprises Inc., urged state regulators to approve Pacific Rim's application, saying the recent merger of City Bank and Central Pacific Bank "has left Hawaii with too few small, locally owned banks to serve small business customers" like himself.
Real estate investor Richard Wasnich, citing the need for "a small, locally-owned bank," wrote: "As other banks become larger and larger, these large banks find it uneconomical to deal with the smaller loans required by small business."
Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8064.
