Building
Relationships has Helped Build Oaks Bank & Trust; Staff Longevity
& Solid Management are Keys to Reaching 20th Anniversary
Released on
= June 13, 2005, 8:52 pm
Press Release
Author = Craig McDaniel, APR for The Oaks Bank & Trust Company
Industry = Financial
Press Release
Summary = Since 1985, The Oaks Bank & Trust Company has expanded
from one office to five, grown to over $100 million in assets, and
increased capital
strength fivefold. In addition, the Dallas bank has affiliated companies
providing mortgage and insurance services. Since opening 20 years
ago, the banking industry has undergone major deregulation and an
economic meltdown in the late 1980s, highlighted by over 90 percent
of Dallas County banks failing during a six-year period. Yet, because
of the strong leadership of Oaks Bank's directors and the
outstanding performance of its officers and staff in responding
to customers' needs, Oaks Bank has grown and prospered.
Press Release
Body = DALLAS -- Good management and remembering that successful
banks focus on customer relationships helped The Oaks Bank &
Trust Company – chartered 20 years ago – avoid the pitfalls
that reshaped the banking landscape in the mid-1980s.
Chairman Max
Wells and Lex Johnston (1928-1992) founded Oaks Bank & Trust
on May 17, 1985, taking over what remained of a small Dallas bank
that was the 34th institution shut down by federal regulators that
year.
“We founded
Oaks Bank & Trust Company knowing that with wise management
and the right focus we’d have a chance to succeed,”
said Wells, who had a long track record
of bank management. “Because of the strong leadership of our
board of directors and the outstanding performance of our officers
and staff in responding to our customers' needs, we grew and prospered.”
The concept
that banking is a “personal business” was the idea behind
the community bank, and Wells and Johnston set out to prove that
customer relationships, rather
than the rigid rules adhered to by the large banking corporations,
were the key to longevity.
Indeed, since
its founding Oaks Bank & Trust has grown to $115 million in
assets and increased its capital strength fivefold. Its stable performance
and reputation
enables coverage of individual loans up to about $2.5 million and
a full range of services for its primary market of entrepreneurs
and small to medium-size businesses.
"By focusing
on building relationships with our customers, we have always been
able to find appropriate financial solutions," says Dennis
Van Fossen, Oaks' president.
Thriving for
20 years with only one management and ownership team, the continuity
of the bank’s employees is reflected throughout the organization
with many staff
members having a decade or more of service. This includes four who
were there on opening day: Chairman Wells, Executive Vice President
Kyle Turner, Vice President
Renee Clarkson, manager of the bank’s Preston Trail office,
and Emmela Baldwin, supervisor of the Loan and Credit Department.
While determined
to remain moderately sized, Oaks Bank has expanded from its original
office at Greenville Avenue and University Boulevard to include
four others
in Dallas, Duncanville and Richardson. Each of the offices has an
experienced manager who is also a senior lending officer, available
to provide rapid personal service backed with local knowledge. This
approach allows Oaks Bank to consider the majority of loan applications
in 48 hours or less, providing customers with the liquidity they
need, when they need it.
“Banking
is all about relationships,” Wells says. “If you’re
an entrepreneur, you need more than good checking and teller service.
You’re concerned with how willing your bank is to stand behind
you through the ups and downs of your business. You want to know
that you will have access to the resources to seize a great opportunity
or get funding to help you through a business emergency.”
This individual
attention places Oaks Bank well beyond the level of customer care
of most other banks. But it also offers “Big Bank” services
including online banking at www.oaksbank.com, ATM service, automated
clearinghouse (ACH) originations, online wire origination with the
Federal Reserve Bank, and electronic processing of federal tax payments
for deposit account clients.
The bank also
provides insurance and associated financial services through its
affiliate Texas BancPartners Insurance Agency LLC, and commercial
and residential mortgage services through the Parkvest BancGroup.
Web Site = http://www.oaksbank.com
Contact Details
= The Oaks Bank & Trust Company
4849 Greenville Ave.
Dallas, Texas 75206
214-361-7400
Media Contact:
Craig McDaniel, APR
McDaniel Marketing Communications LLC
214-914-4261
mcdanielpr@swbell.net
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