TEMECULA -- They've traveled remarkably similar paths as they weaved their way through an industry that is one of the most regulated in the nation. Both have leaders with deep roots in Southwest County and North San Diego County. Each was founded with local dollars put up by area investors who believed that a trip to the bank should be a personable experience rather than an unnerving chore.

Individually, they are known as Temecula Valley Bank and Mission Oaks National Bank. Collectively, the area's local banks have served local businesses and residents for years, providing millions of dollars in loans and racking up millions more in assets and deposits.

Of late, they've also spread their wings, opening new branches, expanding lending operations while making those early investors money.

Temecula Valley Bank

Each of the publicly traded banks got started in a similar fashion. In the mid-1990s, Stephen H. Wacknitz was at the helm of the Fallbrook National Bank a few miles to the south when he and some other industry veterans saw an opportunity to start an independent or community bank in rapidly growing Southwest County.

So, they pooled money from more than 400 investors and raised about $5 million with another $1 million in reserve. The financial institution is controlled by a holding company -- Temecula Valley Bancorp -- whose stock is traded over-the-counter under the symbol (TMCV).

Once they received clearance from federal banking regulators, the group was on its way. Wacknitz, 64, married with two grown children, said the bank's early goals were clear.

"I think our focus was to be a well-run community bank to meet the needs of the community," said Wacknitz, who began his banking career with a small financial firm in Indiana about 42 years ago. "But we started out with all our guns going -- mortgage, small business and construction-loan departments all in tow. … We didn't have a huge staff, but we were ready to go."

Temecula Valley Bank turned a profit in its second quarter and hasn't looked back, with assets now hovering around $500 million, loan offices around the country and expansion plans taking hold.

Mission Oaks National Bank

Following the lead of Wacknitz was Gary W. Votapka, who at one point worked for his predecessor at Fallbrook National Bank.

Votapka, a former bank examiner with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., went to work for the private banking sector in 1984 as a credit review specialist for a bank in San Diego. Votapka, 52, and married with two children, worked his way up through the local banking ranks eventually ending up at Fallbrook National (now Community National Bank).

"I was their senior lending officer for a couple of years," Votapka said. "That was a very good bank.

Votapka's last stop was at California Bank & Trust, which he then left in June of 1999 for an opportunity to "start something local." That turned out to be Mission Oaks National Bank, which was founded about 17 months later.

Together with veteran banker Keith Johnson and local physician Walt Combs, the trio went out and helped raise $7.6 million from 325 investors, and, after receiving regulatory approval the bank opened in November 2000.

While younger and smaller in scope than the neighboring Wacknitz-led bank, Mission Oaks has rung up about $100 million in assets since it opened.

Mission Oaks is traded over-the-counter under the symbol (MKNB).

Resident makes the switch

Although Mission Oaks has been doing business for only a few years, the bank has developed scores of local customers who like its down home approach to banking.

When Ric Bengtson needed a loan to buy a five-acre parcel in De Luz last year, he shunned the nationally recognized financial institution he'd done his personal banking with for years in favor of a community bank in the area.

The now 40-year-old business-planning manager for a local manufacturer of semiconductors said the reason why he went with Mission Oaks was because of the way he was treated the first time he walked through its doors.

"It was absolutely phenomenal. Instead of feeling like a number, I felt like I mattered. They were able to get my loan request processed and approved in a matter of days," said Bengtson, who was referred to the bank by a friend. "They completely sold me from a service experience. I am now going to them for my construction loan."

Therein lies the niche community banks have carved out for themselves in a highly competitive business dominated by big-name financial institutions, said Tim Cook, director of communications for Independent Community Bankers of America.

The 70-year-old Washington, D.C.-based organization is an advocate for approximately 5,000 community banks in the United States.

"There is a flexibility and nimbleness in a decision that happens right in the office versus a big bank where they take an application and spit it off eight states away, where a big machine crunches the numbers," Cook said.

What lies ahead

Temecula Valley Bank plans to increase its focus on its wildly successful lending programs, while it continues to pursue national recognition with the hope of landing a listing on the Nasdaq exchange in the near future.

The bank also ranked as the eighth largest Small Business Administration lender last year with more than $216 million in loans, an annual financial report showed. Temecula Valley Bank was also ranked as the largest independent lender during the same period.

All of that has Wacknitz pleased with the direction of the financial institution. And if that wasn't enough, Temecula Valley opened its sixth full-service branch last week in Rancho Bernardo.

"We're a very, very active lender. I think that builds our bank," Wacknitz said. "I feel very pleased with what we've been able to do."

Meanwhile, Votapka said he will continue to build Mission Oaks National Bank one step at a time with its emphasis on small-to-medium size business services and its growing individual customer. The bank recently announced plans to open a full-service branch in the commercial, industrial and retail heavy area of Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga.

That also marks the bank's first foray outside the Temecula Valley -- something that has Votapka enthusiastic about its prospects.

"It's future potential is just huge," Votapka said.

Contact staff writer Wyatt Haupt at (909) 676-4315, Ext. 2615, or whaupt@californian.com.