BlueRidge Bank Calls Towson Its Second Home

A small Frederick bank recently doubled in size.

That is, from one branch to two. The second branch of BlueRidge Bank opened in Towson in September, representing management's hopes to see a return to community-based banking.

The bank hosted an open house Wednesday afternoon for the new branch at 502 Washington Ave.

After PNC Bank purchased Baltimore-based Mercantile Bank in 2006, a group of former Mercantile executives were looking for a new challenge, said president Brian Gaeng. In April 2008, they founded BlueRidge Bank in Frederick. By Gaeng's estimation, 80 percent of the staff and half of the directors once worked at Mercantile.

"What you've seen is a lot of industry consolidation" in recent years, Gaeng said. That consolidation swallowed up Mercantile, Provident Bank, Allfirst and other locally-managed institutions in Maryland and elsewhere in the 1990s and 2000s.

"We're seizing on that opportunity," said Gaeng, a Towson native, who called Towson the key to a "vibrant market."

And at a time when thousands are occupying Wall Street, many are taking their money back to Main Street. A group of consumer advocates declared Saturday as Bank Transfer Day, where participants are encouraged to move their money from large national banks to local institutions or credit unions.

The bank currently holds $145 million in assets, a number sure to grow as it enters the Baltimore market, the third-largest by deposits in the state.

But the biggest reason people choose BlueRidge is the community feel, says Tim Daly, the executive vice president of the Towson branch.

"We think there's a demand for the old community, relationship bank," Daly said.

The Towson branch will have six staffers, including a teller, a private banker and community lenders, according to branch manager Steve Emerick.

At a ribbon-cutting Wednesday, County Executive Kevin Kamenetz called the bank's choice for its second location "a testament to Towson's strength as a place to do business."

The bank also used the occasion to present a $1,000 check to the nearby