BB&T, the Winston-Salem, N.C., bank that acquired St. Petersburg's Republic Bank last week, prides itself on the autonomy it gives its regional presidents. Though it is the nation's 11th largest financial holding company, with more than 1,350 branches in 11 states, BB&T likes to boast that the regional structure assures nearly all lending decisions are made locally.
Just don't ask a regional office a really tough question. Like how many branches it has in a particular area.
When a reporter tried to confirm with a Florida regional official how many BB&T branches the bank had in the Tampa Bay area prior to the Republic Bank purchase, the response was standard corporate-speak: Call headquarters.
The answer, by the way, is four. Before adding Republic, BB&T had branches in New Port Richey, Holiday, Spring Hill and Beverly Hills.
