Community Bancorp. was organized under the laws of the State of Vermont in
1982 and became a registered bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company
Act of 1956, as amended, in October 1983 when it acquired all of the voting
shares of Community National Bank (the "Bank"), headquartered in Derby,
Vermont. The Bank is the only subsidiary of the Company and principally all
of the Companys business operations are presently conducted through it. Therefore,
the following narrative and the other information about the Company contained
in this report are based primarily on the Banks operations.
Community National Bank was organized in 1851 as the Peoples Bank, and was
subsequently reorganized as the National Bank of Derby Line in 1865. In 1975,
after 110 continuous years of operation as the National Bank of Derby Line,
the Bank acquired the Island Pond National Bank and changed its name to "Community
National Bank." On December 31, 2007, the Company completed its acquisition
of LyndonBank, a Vermont bank headquartered in Lyndonville, Vermont, in a cash
merger transaction. As a result of the merger, the Company expanded its existing
branch network in Caledonia and Orleans Counties and expanded it into Lamoille
and Franklin Counties. In addition to its main office in Derby, the Company
currently maintains eleven branch offices in northeastern and central Vermont.
The Company, through Community National Bank, provides a broad range of retail
banking services to the residents, businesses, nonprofit organizations and municipalities
in northeastern and central Vermont. Significant services offered by the Company
include:
Business Banking – The Company offers a range of credit products for
a variety of general business purposes, including financing for commercial business
properties, equipment, inventories and accounts receivable, as well as letters
of credit. The Company also offers business checking and other deposit accounts,
cash management services, repurchase agreements, automated clearing house (ACH)
and wire transfer services and remote deposit capture.
Commercial Real Estate Lending – The Company provides a range of products
to meet the financing needs of commercial developers and investors, residential
builders and developers and community development entities. Credit products
are available to facilitate the purchase of land and/or build structures for
business use and for investors who are developing residential or commercial
property, as well as for real estate secured financing of existing businesses.
Residential Real Estate Lending – The Company provides products to help
meet the home financing needs of consumers, including conventional permanent
and construction/permanent (fixed, adjustable, or variable rate) financing arrangements,
and FHA/VA loan products. The Company offers both fixed-rate and adjustable
rate residential mortgage (ARM) loans and home equity loans. A portion of the
first lien residential mortgage loans originated by the Company are sold into
the secondary market. The Company offers these products through its network
of banking offices. The Company does not originate subprime residential real
estate loans.
Retail Credit – The Company provides a full-range of loan products to
meet the needs of consumers, including personal loans, automobile loans and
boat/recreational vehicle loans. In addition, through a marketing alliance with
a third party, the Company offers credit cards.
Municipal and Institutional Banking – The Company provides banking services
to meet the needs of state and local governments, schools, charities, membership
and not-for-profit associations including deposit account services, tax-exempt
loans, lines of credit and term loans. In addition, through an arrangement with
the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston (“FHLBB”), the Company offers
a secured deposit product to its municipal customers, collateralized by FHLBB
letters of credit.
Retail Banking – The Company provides a full-range of consumer banking
services, including checking accounts, savings programs, automated teller machines
(ATMs), debit/credit cards, night deposit facilities and online, mobile and
telephone banking.
The Company focuses on establishing and maintaining long-term relationships
with customers and is committed to providing for the financial services needs
of the communities it serves. In particular, the Company continues to emphasize
its relationships with individual customers and small-to-medium-sized businesses.
The Company actively evaluates the banking needs of its markets, including low-
and moderate-income areas, and offers products that are responsive to the needs
of its customer base. The Company’s markets provide a mix of real estate,
commercial and industrial, municipal and consumer lending opportunities, as
well as a stable core deposit base.
In 2002, the Bank transferred its trust operations to a newly formed Vermont-chartered
nondepository trust and investment management affiliate, Community Financial
Services Group, LLC, based in Newport, Vermont ("CFSG"). The Banks
ownership interest in CFSG is held indirectly, through Community Financial Services
Partners, LLC, a Vermont limited liability company (“CFSG Partners"),
which owns 100% of the limited liability company equity interests of CFSG. Immediately
following transfer of its trust operations to CFSG, the Bank sold a two-thirds
interest in CFSG Partners, equally to the National Bank of Middlebury, headquartered
in Middlebury, Vermont and Guaranty Bancorp Inc., the bank holding company parent
of Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank, headquartered in Woodsville, New Hampshire.
CFSG offers fiduciary services throughout the market areas of the three owner
financial institutions and leases space from them in some of their branch offices.
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