| HOLYOKE PeoplesBank has announced that it is closing in on $1.5 billion in assets and that it has crossed the $1 billion mark in its lending portfolio. "In 2006, we achieved an increase of $164 million in assets bringing total assets to over $1.406 billion," announced Douglas A. Bowen, President. "The strong, double-digit growth that we experienced in both commercial and residential lending gave us the push we needed to grow our lending portfolio to $1.031 billion. We are also happy to announce that we had a very healthy deposit growth of $122 million last year. This success was aided by the openings of our new offices in Westfield, Sixteen Acres and South Hadley." Bowen suggested that the Bank's continued success is based upon its commitment to expanding as an independent community bank. "We are improving convenience and the customer experience by opening new offices and ATM locations. During 2006, we actually accelerated our growth plans by opening three new offices in Westfield, Sixteen Acres and South Hadley. We expanded our independent ATM network by adding a location in Feeding Hills and two locations in Springfield. Looking forward, we have acquired sites for new offices at 1240 Sumner Avenue, in Springfield, and 547 Memorial Avenue, in West Springfield." PeoplesBank now has 14 offices nine serving Hampden County and five serving Hampshire County. Regarding new construction, Bowen noted that actual construction and completion dates are dependent upon the permitting process, regulatory approvals and lease agreements. Bowen also stated that the Bank's success has translated into a renewed commitment to community service. "It gives me great pleasure to report that we supported our mission as a community bank by making over $500,000 in contributions to local charitable organizations in 2006. It speaks volumes about our mutual bank model. For over 120 years, it has allowed us to focus on our customers rather than shareholders. It has certainly been a winning strategy for all of us customers, community and PeoplesBank." For 2006, PeoplesBank reported that total assets for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2006 totaled $1,406,000,000 up 13 percent from the $1,242,000,000 reported as of the previous year. Total loans outstanding also increased by 17.7 percent or $155 million to total $1,031,000,000 as of year-end. Total deposits for the year increased by $122 million, or 16.2 percent, to total $873.6 million as of December 31, 2006. The new PeoplesBank offices in Westfield, Sixteen Acres and The Village Commons in South Hadley combined for year-end deposits totaling $25 million. |
