General
We are a registered bank holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We were incorporated on July 20, 2006 to serve as a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (the “BHC Act”) for our wholly-owned subsidiary, Business First Bank. We became the parent company of Business First Bank on April 1, 2007, and we currently own all of the outstanding shares of the capital stock of Business First Bank. As of December 31, 2015, on a consolidated basis, we had total assets of $1.1 billion, total loans of $772.4 million, total deposits of $904.2 million and shareholders’ equity of $112.4 million.
Business First Bank is a Louisiana state non-member bank that was established in February of 2006. Business First Bank serves the state of Louisiana with sixteen banking centers, with offices located in the Louisiana cities of Baton Rouge, Brusly, Covington, Denham Springs, Erwinville, Gonzales, Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Port Allen, Shreveport and Zachary. Business First Bank also has a Loan Production Office in the New Orleans Metro area. Business First is organized into three regions, each of which is led by an experienced Regional Chief Executive Officer. Within each region, Business First Bank has experienced bankers led by a local market president who are all involved in the community and industry. Business First Bank’s principal office is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Business First Bank offers a full range of banking services, including commercial and consumer banking. As of December 31, 2015, Business First Bank had total assets of $1.1 billion, total loans of $772.4 million, total deposits of $904.6 million and shareholders’ equity of $113.3 million.
Our principal executive office is located at Business First Bank Plaza, 8440 Jefferson Highway, Suite 101, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809. Our telephone number is (225) 248-7600 and our website address is www.b1bank.com.
Our Business Strategy
Our mission is to be the financial institution of choice for Louisiana enterprises and their owners and employees. To achieve this mission, we concentrate our resources on two fronts: convenience-enhancing technology and products and recruitment, retention and empowerment of world class employees. We believe a bank should be measured by the value it adds to its customer’s business processes.
The focus of our strategy has been, and continues to be, the establishment and enhancement of an attractive commercial banking franchise by maximizing long-term shareholder value through growth in our loans, investments, deposits and net income in a manner consistent with safe, sound and prudent banking practices while providing personalized customer service consistent with the needs of small- and mid-sized businesses, their owners and employees. To accomplish this goal, we utilize the following business strategy:
We focus on providing private banking services primarily to small businesses and professionals. Rather than attempt to compete for customers with larger financial institutions on a transaction-by-transaction basis, we work to build robust, lasting partnerships with our customers.
By locating in seven metropolitan areas and decentralizing as much decision-making authority as sound banking practices will permit, we endeavor to capture both the stability of geographic diversification within Louisiana and the loyalties of a customer base that only a locally-owned community bank can provide. Each market we serve has a local president and our director’s loan committee is comprised of community leaders who have a stake in the institution. We believe that one of our greatest competitive advantages is the depth of our statewide network of entrepreneurial directors.
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| /s/ Hannis T. Bourgeois, LLP |