A: Managing the tremendous growth we're experiencing. We did a capital augmentation where we issued some trust-secured securities, which counts as some additional capital. We're just trying to maintain liquidity to manage our loan demand.

Q: Who or what is your biggest competition? Why?

A: Community banks in our area and two or three mid-tier banks BB&T, First Citizens and SunTrust.

Q: What is the biggest issue facing the state?

A: You need to look at regions or pockets. Obviously the Triangle and Charlotte and Wilmington have done quite well in the last year or two, economically. That thin strip along the coast has done well. Many of the interior counties in western North Carolina have suffered from agriculture, tobacco. Over in the Triad, in the Piedmont part of the state, tobacco, textiles and furniture have hurt. It's a tale of two cities. There's the rich and the not-so-rich. The bulk of the rest of the state is still reeling from a lot of outsourcing of jobs overseas.

Q: North Carolina sees biotechnology and service companies as a key to its future. Is that the right path? Should we be giving incentives to attract them here?

A: I don't know if biotech alone can carry the state, and I'm not sure we want just one single industry to carry the state in the future. But it could certainly become one of the main [concentrations]. I have no problem with incentives if they're well thought out and targeted toward industries that can help the state.

Q: What's the biggest change in business today compared to when you started?

A: Deregulation. Deregulation of the financial services industry has more impacted me. But certainly deregulation of the trucking industry, airline industry. Deregulation has brought on a lot of good things and a lot of not-so-good things. Competition and perhaps has created some more efficiencies. [On the bad side] the airline industry is reeling from deregulation and the industry now as a whole has lost money.

Q: Why should an investor invest in your stock today?

A: A good market is going to float all boats and a bad market, you can struggle all you want, you can't turn into a good market overnight. We're in one of those tremendous markets.

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