Another North Carolina banker is stepping off the sidelines to start a de novo.
Simpson Brown Jr., former CEO of TriStone Community Bank, is hoping to open Community Bank of the Carolinas in Forsyth, N.C., by the fourth quarter. He is the proposed CEO.
Brown, 63, was one of the founders of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based TriStone Community. The bank was established in 2004 and sold in 2009 to Bluefield, Va.-based First Community Bancshares Inc.
Brown said he knew he would get back into banking at some point but was waiting for the right opportunity. He said an improved economic and regulatory environment, combined with a lack of community banks in the Winston-Salem area, makes Community Bank of the Carolinas a "really positive venture."
The only banks currently headquartered in the Winston-Salem metropolitan statistical area are Piedmont Federal Savings Bank and BB&T Corp.
"There's been a lot of bank consolidation," Brown said in an interview. "Virtually all the community banks have disappeared in the county we live in and a couple of adjoining counties ... Community banks serve an incredible niche in our communities. We're just trying to fill that gap."
Brown said the economy has worked its way "through the meltdown," and investors are now more willing to invest in a new bank. Brown anticipates the bank will need to raise between $25 million and $30 million in common stock, via a public offering. He said organizers have hired an investment banker to assist with the offering.
"The enthusiasm around town has been really incredible," he said. "Meeting the groups and meeting the individuals ... everybody is really excited about what's getting ready to happen. Probably more so than when I did my first bank."
Community Bank of the Carolinas' organizers plan to file applications with the North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and they hope to receive regulatory approval by the third quarter.
Brown said the bank plans to have a varied loan portfolio, with a focus on individuals and small- and medium-sized businesses. He touted the area's business climate, with a low unemployment rate and improved housing market.
"We just feel like there's a niche to meet customers' needs that like the personalized and customized attention," Brown said. "They like a quicker response. They like to be called by their name."
In five years, he said, the de novo will be a "reasonably sized community bank."
"We'll grow quickly, and we'll grow safely," he said. "We won't take a lot of speculative risks."
The news comes less than a week after the former CEO of Yadkin Valley Financial Corp. announced plans to open Spirit Community Bank in Statesville, N.C. Another group is reportedly evaluating the possibility of opening a bank in Monroe, N.C.
The last de novo bank in North Carolina was Jacksonville-based Coastal Bank & Trust in 2009.
