The smallest National Bank in Indiana: a new name hints of big plans.

• Author: Kaelble, Steve
• Position: AROUND INDIANA

DAN FEHRENBACH knows a thing or two about big banks and bank consolidation. In his 35 years of banking, his business card has carried many different institution names, including one that was among the state's largest, American Fletcher National Bank. While at one western Indiana institution, he saw the name change five or six times.

He's downsized now--the big fish in one of the state's smallest ponds. Fehrenbach is president and CEO of Bank of Indiana, based in the Vermillion County community of Dana. It's a little town, with a population of just under 700. And Bank of Indiana is a little bank. Of Indiana's 181 banks and savings institutions, 26 are nationally chartered commercial banks, and of those, Bank of Indiana is the smallest.

But in a world of megabanks, being small has its advantages, Fehrenbach says. "A good portion of people want to do business with a local bank, where you can call up and talk to the people making decisions," he says. At Bank of Indiana, that's not hard to do, as there are only 16 employees, and callers can be easily steered directly to Fehrenbach's extension.

Even so, Bank of Indiana is big enough to handle the kinds of needs typical of the residents and businesses in its part of the state. "We can do a loan of $10 million, $15 million, $20 million, without any problem," Fehrenbach says. "We can handle the needs of 90 percent of the companies in this area." And though it's small, it boasts the usual banking features, such as electronic banking...