Bank job

After Comerica dropped the bombshell that it was moving its corporate headquarters from Detroit to Dallas, Gov. Jennifer Granholm told reporters that the large dark cloud created by the move had at least some silver lining.

"We have a tremendous moment here to support community banks, which are investing in cities across the state," the guv was reported saying.

Which left News Hits wondering what exactly a community bank is. We got an answer from attorney Mike Kus, spokesguy for the Michigan Association of Community Bankers.

"A community bank is one that's locally owned, with shareholders from the local community, with the intent of serving the local community," explains Kus.

In case you missed that, the emphasis is on local. Go to a community bank and you're not dealing with an institution that has its headquarters in New York City or Chicago or Dallas. They are homegrown operations looking to help their hometowns grow.

There are more than 100 such banks in towns across Michigan. In Detroit, for example, we have First Independence National Bank.

Kus predicts that, in the wake of Comerica's announcement, even more of these banks could be springing up. It's not that Comerica branches in this area are going to be closing their doors, "but it's a little disappointing that when Detroit needs it the most, they turned their back on it."

On the other hand, it looks like Comerica's going to be leaving its name on that ball field the Tigers call home.

If that's a little too much irony for you to bear, and you want to send a message to those new corporate headquarters in Dallas by moving your moola to a local institution, you can find a community bank near you by going to the Web site macb.org.