Lee Bell Quoted in Article on Community Banking

Lee Bell, Shareholder, was recently quoted in an article written by Margie Manning of the Tampa Bay Business Journal regarding Tampa area community banks.  Below is an excerpt of that article.  To read more, visit the Tampa Bay Business Journal's website.

Performance improving, with a caveat
Margie Manning

Tampa Bay area community banks gained strength on their balance sheets and income statements in the third quarter. As a group they bolstered capital and made a profit compared with a net loss in prior quarter.

However, the turnaround is attributed more to failure of a dozen of the biggest statewide money-losers than to performance improvements.

“I don’t know that we’re seeing that banks are starting to make money that weren’t making money, but some of the banks that were losing money have continued to lose but at a slower pace or they are gone,” said Lee Bell, shareholder in charge of the central Florida practice for accounting firm Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund.

The health of the banking industry is critical for small to mid-size businesses that rely on community banks for credit and other services. Stronger banks are in a better position to make loans to be used by businesses to expand and hire, increase purchases from other businesses and in turn boost the economy.