Business leaders bank on new venture

A charter would open doors to a locally owned financial institution.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published July 2, 2007

	James "Bud" Stalnaker Jr., left, president and CEO of Florida Traditions Bank, stands in the bank's unfinished offices doing business even as the building itself is undergoing extensive renovations.
[Times photo: Mike Pease]

DADE CITY – Wilton Simpson and James "Bud" Stalnaker Jr. sat down for lunch one day this spring at Beef O'Brady's, a downtown restaurant housed in a building Simpson bought and renovated last year.

Soon, the two were talking about another business venture.

"Why don't we start a bank?" Simpson recalls Stalnaker saying.

Florida Traditions Bank, as the venture came to be called, is awaiting charter approval by the state.

That's about all it lacks.

More than 270 investors have committed some $20-million in capitalization funds. The board of directors includes several of the area's most prominent and active business leaders.

Stalnaker, who launched a community bank in 1989, is slated to be president and chief executive officer.

"We want to go back to the locally owned banks, " he says. "We make our own decisions here."

Adds Simpson: "It's our goal to serve our community by serving those customers that otherwise become numbers at a bigger bank."

The charter application, filed with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, outlines a business strategy based on those sentiments.

While relying on new development in Pasco and Hernando counties to draw customers, the bank intends to distinguish itself with a highly personalized approach.

"We will also attract customers from the existing financial institutions by offering a complete, full-service menu of more manageable and less confusing traditional banking products coupled with a high level of professional service all delivered by experienced bankers, " the application says.

The clout of its backers should help, too. The application mentions the board's "existing relationship network" as a basis for marketing the bank.

At its launch, the bank would employ about 30 people and operate two branches in Zephyrhills and Spring Hill, in addition to the main office in Dade City on Eighth Street in the former SouthTrust building.

Three more branches would open within the first three years in surrounding areas.

The application lists standard banking services, including deposit and checking accounts, commercial lending, residential mortgages, home equity lines and auto loans.

The bank's organizers expect serious growth: profitability by the third year with $175-million in deposits.

"The proposed market areas are ripe for the new regional growth both residentially and commercially, " according to the application.

Charter approval could come this summer. The shareholders would then hold their first meeting, and the bank could open 30 days later - probably by the end of this year.

The rapid pace surprises even Stalnaker, a banker since the 1970s.

"When we first got started, we talked to a few people and of course they talked to their friends, " said Stalnaker, who started Community National Bank of Pasco County, which was later acquired by CenterState Bank.

The initial stock, he added, sold within a week, and all the investors are local.

That, too, serves Florida Traditions' purpose.

"Our main objective, besides the return to the shareholders, is to help the communities grow, " Stalnaker says.

Molly Moorhead can be reached at 352 521-6521 or moorhead@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 1, 2007, 21:02:24]