Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 5, 1991                   TAG: 9102050120
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

REGULATORS DISMISS COREAST EXECUTIVES/ TWO TOP JOBS AT ROANOKE HEADQUARTERS

Reginald K. Hutcherson, vice chairman of CorEast, and Anderson E. Shumate III, president of the institution's western region, were not kept in their jobs, said Ronald Risner, who has been named managing agent of the thrift by the Resolution Trust Corp.

The federal agency seized CorEast on Friday after the federal Office of Thrift Supervision placed CorEast in receivership, saying it had insufficient capital to operate safely and soundly.

Neither Hutcherson nor Shumate could be reached Monday for comment. Both had been in executive positions with First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Roanoke before it was merged in 1988 with a Richmond thrift to form CorEast.

CorEast's legal headquarters was in Roanoke before the RTC assumed control of the institution, although its executive offices and operations center are in Richmond.

The Roanoke jobs will not be filled, Risner said, because the RTC "is able to conduct the responsibilities" of those positions from Richmond.

Risner also replaced W. Ronald Dietz, CorEast's president, board chairman and chief executive officer.

The RTC has retained T. Kevin Walsh as chief financial officer, Risner said. He declined to say how many people were dropped when RTC took over operation of the bank.

"One of our mandates is to reduce operating expenses of the institution" once it is in government receivership, he said. "We always look at the . . . personnel costs."

But he said no cuts had been made in jobs below management level. "The staff remains intact and will continue to wait on customers."

Replacing top managers "is usual in a conservatorship" and doesn't reflect on them personally, Risner said.

CorEast's only stockholder, New York developer Arthur Cohen, no longer has ties with the new association, the RTC said.

Risner said RTC will seek a buyer for CorEast "in due time." The precise timing, however, isn't known.

CorEast has 31 branches in Roanoke, Richmond and Lynchburg. The RTC is conducting all business normally; all accounts retain federal deposit insurance; and loans remain in force.