As Larger Banks Crumble, Local Firms See Rush

The Washington Post reports on how one local bank operates:

President E. Hunt Burke sports a bushy moustache, much like men did around the turn of the last century. He has been known to paint walls on weekends and mop up when the floor is wet to show "nobody's too good to do anything." And although they now offer such newfangled services as online banking, Burke runs the bank in much the same way that his great-great-grandfather did when he founded it in 1852. The board of directors meets every Thursday at 4 p.m. sharp, because it always has. Advertising, until recently, meant waiting until people found them. Residential loans require at least a 20 percent down payment. Loan officers sometimes show up at houses to make sure the appraisal isn't overblown. And no one even considered one of the "nutty" subprime loans that have taken Wall Street and global markets down.

"We do what we understand, and no one understood those," Burke explained. "We look dull and plodding."

An article well worth reading.