Change is hard, and when your hometown bank fails and is bought up by a regional bank, that's change that hurts. On Friday regulators closed Bainbridge Island-based American Marine Bank and when I drove by Saturday morning I saw it was re-opened as Columbia State Bank. A temporary sign hung over the door, and it was business as usual. Read more by clicking here.
What does this mean for Bainbridge Island? That remains to be seen. American Marine Bank was created by a group of local Island businessmen in 1948, when banking for folks living on Bainbridge meant taking the ferry to Seattle. AMB built to twelve branches throughout the region with the company headquarters based on Bainbridge. Jobs may be lost over the next year, and certainly a part of our story has closed its final chapter. The news made the AP wire and Huffington Post picked up the story as one of 15 banks closing in the month of January. AMB wasn't the biggest bank that failed last month, but it wasn't the smallest either.
The good news is that Bainbridge has grown since the days when AMB first began, and we have several national and regional banks on the island. Those of us who have our money deposited at AMB haven't lost a dime.
The real lesson here is a good one for businesses and individuals. Don't borrow more than you can repay; don't loan more than you can afford to lose. And, reputation is hard won and easily lost. AMB~RIP.
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