Evans Bancorp, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the Evans Bancorp Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2021 Financial Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star 0 on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ms. Deborah Pawlowski, Investor Relations for Evans Bank Corp. Thank you. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Donna, and good afternoon, everyone. We certainly appreciate you taking the time today to join us and your interest in Evans Bank Corp. Here with me, we have David Naska, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and John Connerton, our Chief Financial Officer. David and John will review our results for the second quarter of 2021, and then we will open the call for questions. You should have a copy of the financial results that were released today after markets closed, and if not, you can access them on our website at www.evansbank.com. As you are aware, we may make some forward-looking statements during the formal discussion as well as during the Q&A. These statements apply to future events that are subject to risks and uncertainties. as well as other factors that could cause actual results to differ from what is stated on today's call. These risks and uncertainties and other factors are provided in the earnings relief, as well as with other documents filed by the company with Securities and Exchange Commission. You can find the documents on our website or at sec.gov. So with that, let me turn it over to David to begin. David?

Thank you, Debbie. Good afternoon, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for the call today. As we get started, I'd like to once again take this opportunity to thank the entire Evans team for its diligent efforts and continued outstanding commitment to both drive our business and support the communities we serve. Overall, we delivered record earnings for the quarter with net income of $6.3 million compared with $500,000 in last year's second quarter, up 30% from $4.9 million in the first quarter of this year. These results reflected a strong emergence from the pandemic as the economy recovers and were driven by flexibility, responsiveness, and engagement with clients and prospective clients throughout this period. Our customer base grew and we expanded our market presence into Rochester. While still addressing our hospitality portfolio, our disciplined approach to credit played out in our results as we recorded a notable provision release due to improved credit and economic conditions. Loan originations were at record levels once again, though from a cumulative standpoint, total loan balance growth was muted given the heightened level of refinancing and payoffs in the historically low-rate environment and excess liquidity that remains in the market, combined with ongoing Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness. We feel we captured the pent-up demand in both commercial and consumer lending and regained the momentum that had been building pre-COVID. which helped drive higher net interest income. Importantly, our loan pipeline remains solid, which engenders confidence that we can generate growth, excluding PPP forgiveness, over coming quarters. As we noted on our last call, we spent tremendous time engaged with our associates regarding the return to our offices, while continuing to demonstrate flexibility and seeking to address concerns surrounding workplace safety. Approximately 20 to 30% of our associates were working on-site on an average day, and on July 6th, we began bringing more staff back to our new administrative office. The majority of Evans associates based at our administrative headquarters are eligible for a hybrid work schedule, with many splitting their work time between home and office. We've asked these associates to work on-site at least three days a week. but they are welcome to work exclusively in the office if they desire relative to their positions and responsibilities. Overall, we have been pleased with how productive our teams have been throughout the pandemic and believe this hybrid model will be beneficial to all stakeholders as we move forward and will allow us to continue recruiting and retaining top talent. A new bank branch office in a development known as Westminster Commons, a low-income, senior housing project financed by the bank, which is located in an underserved market within our footprint, is nearing completion. We are fully staffed and anticipate a grand opening during the third quarter. This will be Evan's 16th branch in the Buffalo Niagara region and the 21st branch overall. We believe that this project will play an integral role in the renaissance of the east side of Buffalo, and we are proud to be part of this effort to support and move the community forward. Looking ahead, while there will be lingering headwinds, we're optimistic about our future prospects. We've built a strong, diversified, and competitive franchise that is well-positioned to support our clients in their growth and expansion plans as the economy continues to rebound. With that, I'll turn it over to John to run through our results, and then we'll be happy to take any questions. John?