Employment in Montgomery presently tops 1,100 and with normal growth will reach 1,400. Colonial has consolidated accounting, data entry, and investments in Montgomery. It recently purchased the old Pizitz building and remodeled it for back office operations. Mr. Lowder said that the bank considers trust services to be a growth area for Colonial. Most trust accounting and investment services have been moved to Montgomery from the Miami branch.
Colonial is a commercial bank.
Its loan portfolio is well diversified. The legal loan maximum is 140 million dollars, but the average loan is much less. For years one of Colonial's loan strengths has been real estate lending, including single family, commercial and construction loans. Most of its lending has been in the Southeast, which has been both Colonial's loan center and a growth area, exceeding the national average regularly. Thirty four percent of its loans are residential real estate.