Prior to buying a bank in Bellingham in 2004, we really did very little spec lending, with maybe 4 or 5 builders and the occassional one-off deal. The Bellingham unit did a fair amount, and I had been buying participations from them for a few years prior to the merger. Most of our issues are up there. Our region in GH has no problem spec deals, at the moment.

We started cutting back on spec in 2007, and yet still got caught in a few messy deals. Every one I had, we made it out whole (knocks on wood), but I only had 3 individual loans. We are a traditionally commercial bank. 85-90% of credit is commercial on average. We were at 347% of equity on all NOO CRE at year end 2008, and we are currently in the range of 270% in NOO CRE now. This includes spec, hospitailty, Apts, etc. Don't have a specific spec only concentration for you, but it is low, considering that we have traditionally been heavy in hospitality.

C&I and CRE are our primary targets (timber, fishing, hospitality), and we are winding down concentrations in hospitality and other NOO CRE like storage units, apartments, etc. Healthy C&I credits are a challenge to find right now, but there are some.

You know how interesting GH is to bank right now. A few solid performers, and then the rest who are sucking wind. Renewal season is upon us, and downgrades are happening. How is your pipeline of 30-90 delinquent loans? That is the one measure that really needs to be included in the "quick & dirty" Texas ratio. A few in our area have a pretty good supply there, and it is only a matter of time before a good portion of those tip over. Thankfully, I guess, we are seeing those figures decrease steadily.