First Century Bank of Gainesville has been recognized by the ABA Banking Journal as one of "Banking's Top Performers" in 2010.

The publication ranked First Century, which is at 807 Dorsey St., as the 24th most profitable bank in America for Non-subchapter S Banks with under $100 million in assets.

Subchapter S refers to IRS code and whether corporations are treated like a partnership for taxation purposes.

The rankings are based on profitability "in relation to shareholder equity," said Mike Harris, First Century's chief operating officer and executive vice president.

"Based on the net income, or the profit, that the bank made last year, (the publication) would have analyzed that in relation to our shareholder equity," Harris said.

The ABA Banking Journal is the flagship monthly magazine of the American Bankers Association, according to its website.

"We increased our profitabilty substantially last year," Harris added. "We're very excited to be the only bank in Georgia to be so recognized, as far as banks under $3 billion in assets."

However, Harris added quickly, "we get to celebrate those results for about five minutes.

"We recognize that the economy is still struggling and that we have a lot of work to do to continue to try to achieve the results we achieved over the last two years."

Historically, "community banks have survived on their bread and butter, which is loans and deposits," Harris said.

"But there are not going to be a lot of successful community banks in the future that focus solely on those two things," he said.

Bill Blanton, First Century's CEO and board chairman, "has had the vision and ideas that have led to the profitability that the bank has had in the last two years," Harris said.

The bank operates under a traditional banking model, with a particular focus on real estate, small business lending and mortgage lending.

It was one of only 35 percent of banks in Georgia to make a profit in 2009, Harris said.