Bruce Whitehurst
As banks around the country continue to consolidate, a locally-based bank lobbying and trade group is following suit with a merger of its own.
The Virginia Bankers Association, the Innsbrook-based trade organization that represents banks operating in the state for lobbying and other services, has a deal in the works to combine with the neighboring West Virginia Bankers Association in a move that would bring the two nonprofits under one umbrella.
Bruce Whitehurst, CEO of the Virginia Bankers Association, said the deal is an effort by the groups to be mindful of what’s happening in the field they represent.
“The industry is consolidating,” Whitehurst said. “That has different impacts on bankers associations, and we’re probably on the front end of a trend we might begin to see around the country where bankers associations join forces in different ways.”
The combination calls for the creation of a new nonprofit holding company under which both associations would operate. Whitehurst would become CEO of the combined organization.
The two sides are under a non-binding letter of intent that was signed a couple months ago, and they are looking to complete the combination by year’s end.
The West Virginia Bankers Association is a smaller operation in terms of its number of member banks and its balance sheet. It currently has 70 member banks, compared with VBA’s 120. About a dozen of those banks operate in both states.
But both associations have seen the ranks in their industry shrink consistently over time.
The number of banks headquartered in Virginia has been cut in half in the last 20 years to fewer than 100.
That trend is seen nationwide as well. There were around 16,000 banks in the U.S. 25 years ago. Today there are about 6,500.
“I think there’s an expectation that will continue,” Whitehurst said. “In some respects, we’re taking a page from some of our member banks.”
The tendency for banks to consolidate has been evident recently in the Richmond market.
Union Bankshares, the largest bank headquartered in Richmond, acquired the former StellarOne Bank on Jan. 1 in a deal that created the largest Virginia-based community bank. Xenith Bank completed an acquisition earlier this month and EVB has a deal pending to acquire a bank in Newport News.
The creation of new banks has also not kept pace with consolidations and failures in recent years. There was only one new bank founded nationwide last year, a small institution in the Amish country of Pennsylvania, Whitehurst said.
The VBA, which was founded 121 years ago, has a $7 million annual budget. The 123-year-old WVBA operates on a $1.2 million budget.
Like any merger, the VBA and its West Virginia counterpart would seek to cut costs by eliminating redundancies and combining back office operations. They’ll also combine the education, training and vendors services such associations offer to member banks.
Once combined under the new holding company, the two associations would continue to operate in their respective states and where they can focus on their state-specific lobbying efforts.
“We view it as positioning for the future,” Whitehurst said. “We see the wisdom of becoming stronger and more efficient now as something that’s pretty forward looking.”
Bruce Whitehurst
As banks around the country continue to consolidate, a locally-based bank lobbying and trade group is following suit with a merger of its own.
The Virginia Bankers Association, the Innsbrook-based trade organization that represents banks operating in the state for lobbying and other services, has a deal in the works to combine with the neighboring West Virginia Bankers Association in a move that would bring the two nonprofits under one umbrella.
Bruce Whitehurst, CEO of the Virginia Bankers Association, said the deal is an effort by the groups to be mindful of what’s happening in the field they represent.
“The industry is consolidating,” Whitehurst said. “That has different impacts on bankers associations, and we’re probably on the front end of a trend we might begin to see around the country where bankers associations join forces in different ways.”
The combination calls for the creation of a new nonprofit holding company under which both associations would operate. Whitehurst would become CEO of the combined organization.
The two sides are under a non-binding letter of intent that was signed a couple months ago, and they are looking to complete the combination by year’s end.
The West Virginia Bankers Association is a smaller operation in terms of its number of member banks and its balance sheet. It currently has 70 member banks, compared with VBA’s 120. About a dozen of those banks operate in both states.
But both associations have seen the ranks in their industry shrink consistently over time.
The number of banks headquartered in Virginia has been cut in half in the last 20 years to fewer than 100.
That trend is seen nationwide as well. There were around 16,000 banks in the U.S. 25 years ago. Today there are about 6,500.
“I think there’s an expectation that will continue,” Whitehurst said. “In some respects, we’re taking a page from some of our member banks.”
The tendency for banks to consolidate has been evident recently in the Richmond market.
Union Bankshares, the largest bank headquartered in Richmond, acquired the former StellarOne Bank on Jan. 1 in a deal that created the largest Virginia-based community bank. Xenith Bank completed an acquisition earlier this month and EVB has a deal pending to acquire a bank in Newport News.
The creation of new banks has also not kept pace with consolidations and failures in recent years. There was only one new bank founded nationwide last year, a small institution in the Amish country of Pennsylvania, Whitehurst said.
The VBA, which was founded 121 years ago, has a $7 million annual budget. The 123-year-old WVBA operates on a $1.2 million budget.
Like any merger, the VBA and its West Virginia counterpart would seek to cut costs by eliminating redundancies and combining back office operations. They’ll also combine the education, training and vendors services such associations offer to member banks.
Once combined under the new holding company, the two associations would continue to operate in their respective states and where they can focus on their state-specific lobbying efforts.
“We view it as positioning for the future,” Whitehurst said. “We see the wisdom of becoming stronger and more efficient now as something that’s pretty forward looking.”