Harris Bankcorp Inc.

Harris Bank said it intends to lay off nearly 100 employees of two suburban Milwaukee banks it acquired this year. Harris filed a notice with the state of the pending job cuts, which are expected in early October, for employees of the former Ozaukee Bank in Cedarburg and New Berlin-based Merchants & Manufacturers Bancorporation Inc. Merchants & Manufacturers was the parent company of Lincoln State Bank. Harris, based in Chicago, bought the two banks as part of its plan to expand in the Midwest. The notices say the layoffs will affect about 68 employees of Merchants & Manufacturers and about 27 employees of Ozaukee Bank. At the end of 2007, Merchants & Manufacturers had 427 employees and Ozaukee Bank had 162, according to records from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The employees are being offered severance pay and outplacement services and can apply for other job openings, the notices say. Harris is a subsidiary of BMO Financial Corp.