In 1997, Scott Kremer and the Institutional Trust Sales Group was vying for business in the $6 million range. Says the ITS sales manager, "I never fathomed we would be in the position to regularly acquire accounts in the $20 million to $100 million range."

Today, after three years of technological investment, solid strategic direction, and enhanced products and services, ITS is becoming a major player in institutional trust services—and winning major accounts against some of the country's largest financial service providers. The group's latest coup: Whayne Supply, a Louisville, Kentucky-based heavy equipment supplier and one of Catepillar's largest dealers.

When the company, a long time corporate banking customer of NCB, needed to update its employee retirement plan, it decided to solicit proposals from 10 financial institutions including National City. Whayne wanted to make its 401(k) plan state-of-the art, including a variety of mutual fund options, investment flexibility and daily valuation, as well as tools for its 1,300 employees to access and manage their own accounts.

NCB's team—Mr. Kremer, Bill O'Connor, Judy Meany, and Kerry Kelleher, ITS; Betty Rapp, regional manager, Kentucky; and Bill McCreary, senior commercial relationship manager, Louisville—went to work on the proposal and then on a presentation as one of three finalists. In the final analysis, it was National City Bank that won out over Fidelity Investments and a combined team of Chase Manhattan Bank and Mercer Consulting.

"Both of the two finalists had excellent proposals and individual strengths," explains Danny Thomas, corporate secretary and risk manager at Whayne Supply. "What it really came down to was the fact that National City has a strong local presence here and we have had a long-term relationship with the bank."

With new clients such as Whayne Supply, Institutional Trust is now managing more than $114 billion in assets, including NCB's own retirement plan.

"Our record keeping technology for the retirement plan group is one of the best in the marketplace," says Mr. Kremer. "NCB employees have at their disposal state-of-the-art tools and resources to manage their retirement funds.

"As ITS provides higher levels of service, I am confident that we will acquire additional clients," he adds. "Success compounds itself."