PLANS TO OPEN BANK IN SCV WIN STATE OK FACILITY COULD OPEN SOONER THAN EXPECTED, OFFICIALS SAY.Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer VALENCIA - A group of investors planning to build the valley's only locally centered bank announced Wednesday that it has received preliminary approval from the California Department of Financial Institutions. With that hurdle cleared, plans for the new Bank of Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, could progress even faster than initially expected. ``While we must still obtain insurance of our accounts from the FDIC FDIC See: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FDIC See Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), an independent U.S. federal executive agency designed to promote public confidence in banks and to provide insurance coverage for bank deposits up to $100,000. ), this is a milestone for us and pushes forward our timetable for opening the bank,'' said James Hicken, who will be the bank's president and chief executive. The Bank of Santa Clarita has been a dream of several local business people ever since a former local bank, Valencia Bank and Trust, was bought out in 2002 by Union Bank of California Union Bank of California is one of the 30 largest commercial banks in the United States. It has 327 branches, the majority of which are in San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange Counties. . When the new bank's blueprint was unveiled in March, officials did not give an exact timeline for opening, but said Wednesday that it could open as soon as this fall. The new bank is intended to locally concentrate the valley's business community because ``people want to do business with people who make decisions locally,'' Hicken said when the plans were first announced. ``Since the exit of the last locally headquartered bank in Santa Clarita, the number of small businesses in the city has grown to over 4,200,'' Hicken said. ``This provides us with a tremendous opportunity to successfully establish a locally owned, business-oriented financial institution that provides credit and capital to the Santa Clarita marketplace.'' Several prominent local executives are on the bank's board of directors, including Robert King Robert King may refer to:
BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . Inc.; Marlee Lauffer, a vice president of The Newhall Land and Farming Company The Newhall Land and Farming Company is a land management company based in Valencia, California, United States. The company is responsible for the master community planning of Valencia, as well as the management of farm land elsewhere in the state. ; and Thomas Bulger, owner of Scicon Technologies Corp. The bank headquarters is being built at 27441 Tourney Road, Valencia. Nicholas Grudin, (661) 257-5255 nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com |
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