MANCHESTER – After years of consolidation, investors see opportunity in the New Hampshire banking business.

A group of investors that includes former Gov. John H. Sununu is now in the process of organizing a new community bank that will serve the Seacoast region and southern Maine, the group's lead organizer said.

And another group of bank backers wants to establish state-chartered The Nashua Bank in Nashua.

The Seacoast bank, once it is set up, will be known as the Optima Bank and Trust Co. and have its headquarters at Two Harbour Place in Portsmouth. The institution is now going through the regulatory approval process before the New Hampshire Banking Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. However, organizers are hopeful they'll soon be able to sell shares in the new endeavor, and the bank could be open as soon as this fall.

"There has been a lot of consolidation in the banking business in New Hampshire. The market has become so consolidated that there are few locally-owned banks left," said Daniel Morrison, chief executive of Optima Formation LLC, the corporate entity handling matters related to the bank's incorporation. "We intend to change that, and to provide a higher level of service than the large, out-of-state banks. We expect to appeal to people who have higher expectations (for customer service) than what they're getting from bigger banks."

The Nashua Bank

Another state-chartered New Hampshire bank now being formed also hopes to raise at least $10 million through a public stock offering.

The Nashua Bank, which is also now going through the regulatory process, plans to operate along the same lines as Optima Bank and Trust. The BTBE Corp. -- as in Bank To Be Established -- is the entity handling matters associated with The Nashua Bank's formation. Its headquarters will be located at 211 Main St. in Nashua, according to the state banking department.

G. Frank Teas, a former vice president and regional manager with Community Bank & Trust in Nashua, is the bank's lead organizer. Other organizers include John P. Stabile II, the real-estate developer and owner of the Nashua Pride baseball team, and Richard Manganello, the chief executive of Windmill International Inc., a defense-industry consultancy.

Attempts to reach Teas for comment weren't successful, but the company's Web site, at www.btbenashua.com, spells out its plan.

"In this era of regional, national and international banking conglomerates, local needs are being overlooked and banking has become depersonalized," the company said in an introductory statement. "BTBE intends to bring back the personal touch, local decision-making and local commitment that is missing in Nashua's banking environment today."

"The proposed banking entity will be established as a state-chartered commercial bank and will be owned by shareholders upon the approval and issuance of stock at $10/share with a minimum goal of $10 million in capital," the company said.

At Optima, Morrison said that, along with a higher level of service, the bank's customers will benefit from having local ownership and local decision-making, and the bank's organizers have close ties to New Hampshire.

According to Morrison, organizers include: Paul Beswick, chief executive of Beswick Engineering Co. Inc.; Michael Daigle, chief executive of Datarisk LLC; Jag Sisodia, chief executive of Degree Controls Inc. in Milford; and Jaye Morency, a securities analyst and partner in Kennebunkport's acclaimed Pier 77 restaurant. Along with Gov. Sununu, his son James, a managing director of Sununu Enterprises LLC, is also an organizer. All the organizers, save Gov. Sununu, will serve on the bank's board of directors, according to Morrison; Sununu's son Michael will serve in his place on the board.

Morrison, who will serve as the bank's chief executive, comes to the table after a long stint with First Signature Bank and Trust, a Portsmouth bank that was acquired a couple of years ago. Prior to joining First Signature in 1992, Morrison spent many years as a banker in the San Francisco area with Oakland-based Golden West Financial Corp. and Bank of America in San Francisco.

Other key executives include William Young, who will serve as chief lending officer; and Pamela Morrison, Mr. Morrison's wife, who will serve as chief administrative officer. Both have long experience in the banking field.

The bank will initially operate with one branch, also located at Two Harbour Place. The three-story building -- conveniently enough, a former bank office -- has about 9,000 square feet of space altogether. The bank will employ about 15 people and focus on traditional retail banking products and services.

Bank's organizers have already put in a total of $1.35 million to get through the organizing process, and Morrison said the bank planned to raise between $10 million and $15 million through a public stock offering of the bank's shares.

Rate watching

While the new banks are confident about their plans, the challenges facing new banks entering the market are more significant than they were a few years ago.

Perhaps the biggest challenge now, according to those in the industry, is the rate environment. There's not much of a margin between what banks are earning on their loans and what they're paying out on their deposits.

That's not so much a problem for huge banks. They not only have economies of scale on their side, but also a vast array of other money-making activities, ranging from their own institutional trading arms to consumer credit-card operations. Even medium-sized banks offer wealth management services and often have their own insurance arms.

But smaller banks must primarily focus on their bread-and-butter lending operations to make their money. For one new Granite State bank -- Manchester-based Hampshire First Bank -- that's meant being more aggressive than initially planned. The bank opened in 2006 after raising more than $28.2 million in capital through a stock offering; it focuses primarily on serving small business and professional customers, as well as commercial interests.

"Business has been good in spite of some of the turmoil in the financial markets," said Hampshire First chief executive James Dunphy. "The spreads are definitely compressed with the way the yield curve is. It definitely makes it difficult."

"There's an awful lot of work to starting up a bank, but it's also very fun and rewarding," Dunphy said. "It's not without challenges -- the rate environment. We've had to be more aggressive than planned, but you adapt."

The bank's plans include opening a new full-service branch in Keene at 391 West St., where it now has a loan production office. The branch will open as soon as it gets the necessary regulatory approvals, Dunphy said.

Centrix success

Perhaps the most successful start-up bank in the past several years has been Bedford-based Centrix Bank & Trust, which has focused on business and professional customers. Formed in 1999 after raising $7.5 million in a capital stock sale, the six-branch bank had $356.3 million in assets at the end of the second quarter this year, along with net loans of $275.9 million and net deposits of $291.4 million. It has achieved 25 percent annual growth since its founding, according to Centrix chief executive Joseph Reilly.

But Reilly also saw the landscape as being more challenging today than it was seven years ago.

"We started in a very different environment. We started in a different interest rate environment, a different regulatory environment, and a different economic environment," Reilly said, adding, "On a personal level, I would think it would certainly be more challenging to replicate what we've done."

Along with that, Reilly said demand for deposits among banks has become "hyper-competitive." That also pressures banks' net interest margins. However, he said he certainly thinks it is possible for new banks to succeed -- provided they have very strong business plans, very strong leadership, and if they target the right markets. And while the new entrants haven't yet had an impact on Centrix's operations, Reilly said his bank is going to keep a close eye on things.

Centrix focuses strictly on business banking.

"We are respectfully watching any and all new competition, but to date it has not affected our results or our very-focused business plan," Reilly said.