Does banking in the Keys present special challenges, problems and opportunities?
Mr. Johnson: Yes, the Keys is a very good, interesting banking market. It’s 110 miles long and about a quarter-mile wide. There are about 30 islands connected by bridges, so we grew our franchise with a customer base that is quite spread out geographically. It is the county with the highest cost of living in the State of Florida and, because of that, it has some unique challenges and opportunities. Besides the geographical challenges, there is environmental sensitivity, which precludes a great deal of growth down here. That really inspired us to move off the Keys and to expand to South Miami-Dade County and southwest Florida, and it is going very well. We have used resources from the Keys to fund our entry into each of the new higher growth markets. Tickers included in this excerpt: TIBB For more information call (212) 952 7433. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does not make stock recommendations.
