Dec. 30--The Bank and Trust of Del Rio on Monday announced that it joined forces with Bryan's management team to launch a commercial banking facility in the Galleria Village on Briarcrest Drive.

Sid Cauthorn, president and CEO of the Del Rio-based operation, said three branches will open in the Bryan-College Station community within the first quarter of the new year, but -- at least at the start -- clients mainly will come from commercial businesses rather than individuals doing personal banking.

"In the beginning, our plan is to have a loan production office that doesn't do consumer-type banking, but once we get a branch or two open, get into the community, we hope to have a more consumer-based banking where folks can do regular banking," said Cauthorn, whose organization has seven locations -- the oldest being almost 100.

Bryan's family owned First National Bank for 144 years over four generations until selling to Franklin Bank two years ago, but he, along with most of the top management, stayed. He said Monday that their goal is to have a community-owned bank -- neither the Cauthorns nor the Bryans will own more than 10 to 15 percent of the new bank once it's fully constituted and they find people to buy stock.

"We'd like to create the old First National again," Bryan said. "As one of our former directors said, 'The Blues Brothers want to get back together.'"

The Bryan family first opened the business with $100,000 and grew to manage assets totaling $517 million. Touted as the oldest bank in Texas, First National was -- at least in recent years -- the only family-owned bank in Brazos County until Franklin purchased it for more than $134 million.

Franklin, a six-year-old institution, went bankrupt last month after selling home loans in weakened markets, including California and Florida where "enough of these borrowers didn't repay their money to the bank [and] it ran into financial trouble," according to David Barr, a spokesman for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The FDIC was named receiver Nov. 7 to protect the deposits at the banks. All 46 Franklin offices, including the seven branches in Bryan-College Station that kept First National's name, were shut down and reopened the next day after Houston-based Prosperity Bank announced it would buy Franklin's properties. The problems suffered by Franklin were rooted at the parent company and not related to local operations, FDIC officials said.

Dan Rollins, president and chief operating officer of Houston-based Prosperity, could not be reached for comment Monday.