LOVELAND - Call it a banking hat trick.

Even as the loose ends are being tied off for the opening of Larimer Bank of Commerce, the group of bankers pulling it together are preparing to open yet another bank, just over a year after opening of Fort Collins Commerce Bank.

John Busby is heading the effort to open Loveland Commerce Bank, where he will serve as president and CEO.

The bank will be located in a building currently occupied by Burger King at 102 E. 29th St., after extensive renovations. Busby said he considered several locations in Loveland for the bank.

"I liked this location because of its visibility and access," he said, adding that he wanted to stay around downtown Loveland. The Palmer Gardens center in which the bank will be located has undergone a development-wide renovation that is about 80 percent complete.

In addition to preparing for the building renovations through the city of Loveland's development process, Busby is working on filing the charter application with the state banking board and raising capital, which he expects to wrap up by late January.

The founding board of directors includes Mark Kross, president of Larimer Bank of Commerce; Gerard Nalezny, president of Fort Collins Commerce Bank; Kenneth Larson, a member of Virtual Gateway Communication LLC; Leon McCauley, president of McCauley Constructors Inc.; and Joseph Reid, chairman and CEO of Capitol Bancorp Ltd. Busby said he anticipates the board to grow to around 11 after the bank opens.

Like its sister banks Fort Collins Commerce Bank and Larimer Bank of Commerce, Loveland Commerce Bank will provide a full gamut of banking services with a focus on the sweet spots for community banks.

"My focus is clearly going to center around small businesses and commercial real estate," Busby said.

Busby hopes to have the bank open by April 1, but said it could open as late as May 1. When it opens, it will be the third bank in Northern Colorado operating under the Capitol Bancorp Ltd. model.

The first was Fort Collins Commerce Bank, which Kross and Nalezny opened in June 2005, followed by Larimer Bank of Commerce, which will open next month.

Banks operating under the Capitol model are locally chartered banks capitalized by local shareholders and run autonomously by local boards of directors, while the holding company - Capitol Bancorp - offers startup and operating system assistance.

The No. 1 rule under the Capitol operating model is no branching. Each of the three Northern Colorado banks operates under its own charter, meaning each went through the bank application process, and has its own shareholders, boards of directors and staff.



Right leader key

One of the keys under the model is locating the right person to lead the bank.

Busby joined up with Nalezny and Kross in September, leaving his post of president of Horizon Banks' Loveland branch. He became the president of the Horizon branch when the location opened in mid-2004, but he was no stranger to the Northern Colorado banking market at the time, having spent many years prior to that as regional president for Key Bank.

When he joined Fort Collins Commerce Bank, Busby and his new associates referred to his entrance as a "strategic partnership." They offered few details about what the future held, except to say that Busby would explore potential expansion opportunities.

Busby knows the Loveland market and knows he has his work cut out for him.

Loveland was home to 16 banks according to the June 30 Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. market share report. Since then, FirsTier Bank has also joined the mix.

Loveland Commerce Bank will be competing for the ever-growing pot of deposits and commercial loans. As of June 30, banks and branches in Loveland held more than $1 billion in deposits.

But Busby's not daunted by the task. The biggest hurdle, he said, is getting market recognition and letting people know that the bank is locally operated.

Larimer Bank of Commerce is coming along as well. Renovations to its building on Mulberry in Fort Collins were slated to begin in the first week of January, with an expected opening in February.

Even with three banks in less than three years, Nalezny, Kross and Busby do not rule out the possibility of an additional expansion some time in 2007.