Bank buyers
Rhode Island and Massachusetts Congressmen have endorsed the idea of community banks buying the branches that will be divested in the Fleet Financial acquisition of BankBoston. In all, some 270 branches in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts will be sold. Some 40 or more of those branches are in Rhode Island, another 30 in Connecticut and the remainder in Massachusetts. While we have great respect for community banks, and surely see their niche, we believe the region would be better served if another large bank entered the market.
What is being lost by the combining of the region’s two largest banks is not a sense of community – that was lost long ago when the Hospital Trust name became legend as BankBoston’s interests drifted more toward Latin America than Weybosset Street, and Fleet found a home in Boston. What will be lost is the competition among large banks, which provide the region with some unique services that cannot be filled by community banks.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
Sell it in a package, all 270 branches, to some large bank that will set up a New England franchise right here in downtown Providence. The new Fleet/BankBoston entity will probably not need all the buildings it operates in Providence’s financial district – the new towers and the old ones as well – and certainly either Fleet’s or BankBoston’s call center will be closed, with consolidation in the surviving building.
That leaves not only branches, but also real estate in which a new bank could quickly establish itself as a significant regional player.
When Fleet divested the Shawmut branches it resisted this very move and promoted the sale of branches to a new community bank – Bank Rhode Island – that established itself on the imprint of the old Shawmut branches, and has functioned as a growing and successful community bank. But what Bank Rhode Island was not, and will never become, is significant competition to Fleet, and its niche as a player on regional, national and international stages.
These are qualities that serve certain segments of our business community, and can best be fulfilled in an atmosphere of regional competition.
Y2K readiness
It won’t be long before champagne bottles will go on ice, celebrations planned, and the world braced for the unknown impact of the advent of the year 2000. We and other publications have written extensively about the potential Y2K computer problems, and experts have predicted everything from a world recession to no impact. The truth is somewhere in between.
What the experts do agree on, however, is that many small businesses have yet to take the Y2K computer problem as serious enough to do anything about it. By all accounts anywhere from 40 percent to 60 percent of small businesses plan to do nothing.
Congress just last week passed a bill that should help small businesses, establishing a loan program within the Small Business Administration to help small businesses correct Y2K computer problems. The bill was expected to be signed into law by the president.
Time is short. There are just nine months left until year 2000, and companies have precious little time to evaluate problems and implement any corrective action to avoid any significant disruptions.
The Small Business Year 2000 Readiness Act removes any financial obstacle small businesses might have felt prevented them from taking any action. And passage of the act is a strong reminder to any company that has yet to take action that time is short, and if companies want to avoid even the smallest disruption, they need to act now.
