How many of today's banks offer that friendly, small-town banking atmosphere, where everyone from the bank tellers to the president gets to know their customers, their businesses and their community? The truth is, not many. Bigger banks operate on the basis of volume. But at People's Community Bank,

"People's Community Bank is more like the neighborhood drug store, explains bank president Neil D. McCurry Jr. "At People's, we don't think of ourselves as a bank. We're a service company, and the service we provide is banking."

Loan officers cater to local small business owners, such as plumbers, electricians and others who make up what McCurry calls "the driving force behind our local economy." And board members "have their fingers on the pulse of what's going on out there," he says. "We're all actively involved in community boards and local events.

The bank's rare business philosophy and commitment to community begins with McCurry, a Bradenton native. "I always wanted to be a banker, just like my father," he says. Now he has another, equally certain objective--to make People's Community Bank a longstanding institution in Sarasota and Manatee counties. "I want this to be the last job I'll ever have," he says.

In 1998, McCurry saw an opportunity to fill a void in the Sarasota/Manatee area by creating a new, locally based community bank. He then spent 12 months obtaining the necessary governmental approvals, secured a highly visible downtown location and capitalized the bank with 300 local shareholders.

Since opening in the fall of 1999, the bank has shown that McCurry's ideas and vision were correct. During People's first three years, it has attracted more than 3,000 customers and grown from eight full-time employees to 25. Furthermore, People's has accomplished the unheard-of by becoming profitable in its second year of operations.

Now that People's Community Bank has passed its three-year milestone, the banking industry considers it to have reached maturity.

The bank's services include checking and savings accounts, business, home and auto loans, association services, an ATM, a drive-through and a courier who picks up deposits from business customers to save them the trip. "We react to what customers need, instead of making them react to us," McCurry says.

People's Community Bank plans to add secure Internet banking and open its first branch next year in Sarasota or Manatee, keeping with its "staying close to home" philosophy. "We're committing ourselves to focusing on this community," McCurry says. "This is where our roots are.

People's Community Bank

25 S. Links Ave.

(Downtown) Sarasota, FL 34236

(941) 365-5934

Fax: (941) 365-8413

E-mail: nmccurry@peoplescommunitybank.org