| FEATURE STORY
“Our number one goal is to do what’s right for the client,’’ said founder, President and CEO Bill Taylor. “Our primary focus is business owners, their employees and affluent retirees.” One important difference is no bank
employee is on commission, he explained. “I want us to give objective advice to the client and do what’s right for them. To me, when you come to a bank, you come for trust,” he emphasized. Community Bank
community banking will remain strong as long as there are small businesses out there. Our business model is small busi- ness banking and nobody does it better.”
Florida Bank of Commerce Dana Kilborne, now CEO of Florida
Bank of Commerce, founded Prime Bank in 2004 in Melbourne and Merritt Island. In 2008, the banks were joined under a common holding company and
“We have money that we’d like to loan, but the challenge is finding the people who are qualified to borrow.” -Bill Taylor, Community Bank of the South
of the South is doing well with deposits and remains profitable. However, loans are slow, he said. “We have money that we’d like to
loan, but the challenge is finding the people who are qualified to borrow,” Taylor explained. “The future is look- ing up, but the hardships may not be over. I think the next 18 months will be challenging times in Brevard and the nation. Unemployment is going to be a challenge as is the excess housing,” he continued. “The bank is continuing to look for opportunities to expand and to increase its shareholder value. I think
they merged in 2010. The company’s main office is in Orlando; there are six branches total, also including Winter Park, Lake Mary and Kissimmee. “We took on the Florida Bank
of Commerce name, combined the management teams and combined the boards. Nothing was eliminated,” Kilborne said. The bank continues a conservative approach for small business owners, professionals and individuals. “We know what we’re good at and we know we’re not a general bank. We actually haven’t changed our strate- gies. We have been very fortunate. The
economy has a way to go before any of us feel that we’re out of the woods but we’re working with our clients and we’re still active lenders and we’re profitable,” she commented. And Kilborne also is hopeful for
the future. “I think ultimately, private enterprise is what will sustain this county. We definitely have the ingredi- ents for businesses to want to start here. These are difficult times for everybody but we’ve got to seize the opportunities in times like this,” she concluded.
BankFIRST BankFIRST, formerly The Bank
Brevard and founded in 1996, was purchased by a private equity firm in January of 2007. It has branches in Melbourne, Suntree/Viera and Titusville. About four months later, the same
group acquired BankFIRST headquar- tered in Winter Park, including seven branches in the Orlando area. “We essentially operated as two separate banks until May 2008 when we merged, and the BankFIRST name survived,” said Mick Welch, Regional President Brevard County. “BankFIRST has fared well in the down
economy mostly through a conservative approach to lending and superior service,” he said. “It’s been challenging but our deposit growth has been strong; our loan business is soft, and we’re trying to put money on the street. Service is extremely important to us. Many of our customers have been with us since 1996. It’s more of a family atmosphere,” Welch said. As for the future, BankFIRST hopes
to expand to new branch locations and maybe the purchase of other banks. “Our bank is very strong in capital, we’re very liquid, and we’re very conservative,” Welsh explained. “We’re trying to posi- tion ourselves to pull out of this economy quicker than anybody else. We’re just open to all opportunities that may arise.”
President of Coastal Bank Jack Shoffner.
Coastal Bank Facing tougher decisions is Coastal
Bank, founded in 1999, currently with 38]OCTOBER2010
spacecoastbusiness.com
PHOTO BY GEORGE WHITE
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