TAMPA - Bank of Tampa patriarch Jerry Divers began his career in the early 1960s with bankers who survived the Great Depression, when the city lost 24 of its 28 banks.

So when the president of the Tampa Banking Co. adds to the refrain that today's banking conditions are the worst since the Depression, industry colleagues are apt to pay attention, as did competitors and others at a gathering of the Tampa Chapter of the Exchange Club on Monday.

Divers shared his thoughts about the economic plight affecting the nation, including a warning that 2009 looks gloomy for Florida banking.

"I think it is wrong to use taxpayer money to bail out incompetent bankers," Divers told the group of nearly 100 peopleMonday at Jackson's Bistro on Harbour Island. "We would have qualified for $40 million in loans under the initial banking bailout but had no reason to do so."

A return to banking fundamentals learned from the Depression and the resumption of a stronger regulatory environment will be required for a recovery, Divers said. Confidence among consumers will be required, he added.

"I talk with people who can afford to remodel their homes and buy cars and they are not spending the money," Divers said. "I'm kind of optimistic about 2010, if the stimulus package works and if people start to feel better."

Divers subtly injected one note of confidence by saying he expects the Bank of Tampa to increase its $800 million in assets by 30 percent over the next five years. The Bank of Tampa is extremely unlikely to include the purchase of another banking company to grow, he said.

The independently owned Bank of Tampa was among 97 of 262 banks chartered in Florida to report a profit in 2008 and one of 25 to earn at least a 1 percent return on assets - the banking industry's performance standard, state data from 255 banks that have reported show.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817.