Silicon Savings

A time-honored way to start a successful bank is to identify it with a booming local industry, a tactic that has worked for the likes of both the giant Manufacturers Hanover Trust of New York City (deposits: $41 billion) and the little Farmers & Merchants National Bank in Rensselaer, Ind. (deposits: $50 million). Now two California banks that plan to open later this year are using the strategy: Silicon Valley Bank and High Tech National Bank.

"We want to be the banker for the electronics industry," says Roger Smith, Silicon Valley's president. His bank, with headquarters in a San Jose industrial building, will offer services like equipment financing for new companies. High Tech National Bank will go after the microchip money brought home by electronics entrepreneurs to the Silicon Valley suburb Los Gatos (pop. 28,000). Local residents include Steven Jobs, 28, chairman of Apple Computer, who is worth an estimated $200 million. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.