Chapter 10: Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation

Withdrawal-wise, there's not much of an issue. Currently, we've only withdrawn less than three hundred thousand in cash. By the end of today's business hours, we expect to have around four hundred thousand dollars withdrawn. Tomorrow, it might be a bit less, but not significantly. In two days, the outflow of funds should ease a bit.

Compared to when Carter first arrived at the bank in the morning, Goodman was much calmer in handling the withdrawal requests from depositors. Not to mention the large sums of money coming in soon, the attitude of a bank like Blake, which allows you to withdraw freely, almost labels it as a bank for the wealthy.

Who would believe that a bank like this would go bankrupt?

Contrary to worrying about a crisis of confidence among depositors, Goodman was more concerned about another issue:

"Carter, the situation with depositors concentrating withdrawals shouldn't be a problem anymore. Conservatively estimating, this time we should be able to attract around three million dollars in loans. Have you thought about how to handle this money? Five years from now, we'll need nearly five million dollars to repay this loan."

Fifty thousand dollars isn't a small amount in this day and age, let alone five million. Thinking about Blake Bank, Old Blake had been struggling for so many years, even with the economic boom in the United States. The total assets of the bank are only about three million dollars. This includes the deposits from depositors. Excluding these, the actual assets belonging to the Blake family are only about two hundred thousand. This was also the reason why the bank almost went bankrupt when it faced a concentration of withdrawals from depositors. Suddenly, turning the debt into five million dollars was almost twice the entire asset of Blake Bank.

Carter understood Goodman's concern. To be honest, he hadn't thought about how to handle this money yet. After all, Walker hadn't taken office yet, and even if he did, the federal funds rate wouldn't rise just because he said so. It takes time for the rate to go from 10.52% to over twenty, usually in terms of years.

Before that, can this money really be held in hand without moving? Even if you have a stroke, you can't play this kind of operation in ten years! But how to spend this money?

"Don't worry, I have a plan. You go and deal with the loan matters first!"

As the saying goes, while he's anxious in his heart, he must appear calm on the surface. Even a failed first generation still knows these basic operations. With a shallow smile, Carter pretended to be confident and sent Goodman away.

As soon as Goodman left the office and closed the wooden door behind him, Carter's true colors were revealed!

He took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket and slapped it on the table, then frantically searched through the filing cabinets on both sides of the office for piles of journals, newspapers, and documents. While smoking, he looked through them.

As a savings bank based in Douglas, Georgia, or more precisely, the town of Douglas, the industry information in the materials left by Old Blake about Georgia is definitely comprehensive. But no matter how he searched, Carter couldn't find a promising and reliable target.

Georgia isn't without big companies. The famous Coca-Cola Company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Apart from Coca-Cola, large companies like Delta Air Lines are also located in Georgia, but without exception, these companies are mature large groups, and they are all in Atlanta. With his current assets, he doesn't qualify for them.

In Douglas, a city that's more like a future Chinese township than a city, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, Carter could swagger down the street for a few laps. He could even publicly declare himself as Mr. Douglas's richest man, but put him in Atlanta, even if Atlanta's economy isn't doing very well, he can only be a little higher. Perhaps in a normal neighborhood, it could make the neighbors envy him, that's all.

The premise of using four ounces to move a thousand catties is that you must first have four ounces! Carter thought about his own two ounces of flesh and decisively shifted his gaze away from Atlanta.

Apart from Atlanta, the rest of Georgia is mostly swinging back and forth between agricultural production and the textile industry. If it was at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the textile industry would undoubtedly be a good target for loans. But now, it's almost the third Industrial Revolution, or the technological revolution.

The textile industry has long been established, and both the raw material supply and the number of production equipment are fixed. There's basically no need for much expansion, so there's naturally no need for loans. As for lending to agricultural producers...

Let me tell you a joke, farmers or farm owners need a lot of loans.

Excluding these targets, which either don't need loans or aren't qualified for investment, Carter couldn't find any other suitable targets except one.

Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation!

Gulfstream and Bombardier's business jets and private planes are famous in the future. Even if he hasn't seen or ridden in one, he's read so many novels about big shots. Which protagonist in those novels doesn't have a Gulfstream or Bombardier private jet? It seems like they're lacking some prestige without it.

Carter was somewhat surprised to find information about this company in the industry information from Georgia, a state where industrial development had only started to pick up in recent decades. According to the information, this company located in Savannah was not established long ago.

Six years ago, in 1973, a guy named Allen Paulson bought Gulfstream's aircraft production line from Grumman Corporation for two million dollars and established it independently. The first Gulfstream business jet from Grumman Corporation rolled off the production line as early as 1958. It can be said that there was no bright spot in technology, and it felt like picking up someone else's leftovers.

Grumman Corporation needs no introduction. Starting from World War II, it has been one of the most important aircraft manufacturers for the U.S. military. In the 1970s, it even produced the F-14 Tomcat, a groundbreaking aircraft. Of course, this breakthrough had to wait until after the release of "Top Gun" starring Tom Cruise in the future, but even now, without "Top Gun," Grumman Corporation is a well-known large enterprise.

With orders from the Department of Defense, they were too busy to worry about Gulfstream's trifles. If someone wanted to buy it, they sold it. Even Paulson could buy Gulfstream's aircraft production line for two million dollars. Besides selling the Gulfstream production line, all plans related to Gulfstream were also bundled with Paulson. Whether it was production, orders, or after-sales service, in short:

For any future matters, go to him. As long as you don't bother Grumman, that's fine!

Whether or not he should invest is another matter, but this company was obviously a golden egg type of enterprise. At least for the next few decades, it won't go bankrupt. The possibility of bad debts is very low, and it's still undiscovered. Carter hastily circled the name of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation in red ink and marked it as a priority.

But other than that, there didn't seem to be any other suitable targets. Savannah, where Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation is located, is also not within the scope of operations of his Blake Bank. If they really have a need for a loan, it's more likely that they'll directly contact the local banks in Savannah. After all, who would leave the nearest and most familiar bank and come to Douglas to seek a loan?

Does Paulson know that in Douglas, there is a 16-year-old small bank manager who is particularly optimistic about the future prospects of his company?