Jeff Agee addresses business leaders and customers at the grand opening of the newest office of Southern Heritage Bank.One of Tennessee's biggest community banks is moving into Hamilton County with plans for multiple branches to tap into what bank leaders see as one of the prime growth markets in the state.
Southern Heritage Bank, the Cleveland, Tenn.-based bank acquired three years ago by First Citizens National Bank, celebrated the opening of a new office near Hamilton Place mall on Thursday and is already looking to add another branch in the Chattanooga area.
"We love this market and see it as a real area of growth," First Citizens National CEO Jeff Agee told business leaders and customers gathered at the new Hamilton Place Boulevard branch. "We're currently looking for a second branch here in Chattanooga."
Agee, who negotiated the $32.2 million purchase of Southern Heritage Bank in 2014, said Southeast Tennessee is ripe for growth by a "town and country" bank like what he is building across Tennessee.
Jeff Agee
Lee StewartAgee said he liked the Southern Heritage name and respected the brand built up by the bank in Cleveland since its creation in 1999. So although the Cleveland and Chattanooga banks operate under the First Citizens National Bank charter, the name on the bank will continue to be Southern Heritage Bank.
"I've joked with my people that I would love to have the Southern Heritage name for an entire bank," Agee said.
Combined, the Hamilton and Bradley County banks have nearly $300 million of assets and Agee said he would love to duplicate the success he has had by growing a bank presence in metro Memphis to about $600 million in assets since buying a $125 million-asset bank there in 2003.
"We are in the towns on the outskirts of major metro markets (Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga and Jackson), but we're still a good, core community, country bank," Agee said.
Lee Stewart, the East Tennessee market leader for First Citizens and president of Southern Heritage Bank, said the bank is looking for growth areas in Hamilton County to bring its lending team and "town and country bank" approach to the market.
"This is probably one of the best branch teams we have put together anywhere," Stewart Agee said of the 8-employee team headed by Craig Miller at the new 3,500-square-foot Hamilton Place branch.
Southern Heritage is the second biggest bank in Cleveland, Tenn., behind only First Tennessee Bank, and operates three offices in Bradley County.
Its parent, First Citizens National Bank, is a 128-year-old, privately-owned bank headquartered in Dyersburg, Tenn. Since its founding in 1889, First Citizens has grown into Tennessee's 16th biggest bank with 24 bank offices in 11 Tennessee counties.
First Citizens has more than $1.6 billion in assets and last year the bank grew earnings by 18.6 percent to $16.4 million, according to filings with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
"We continued to grow even during the Great Recession and we're always looking for opportunities," Agee said. "I expect the number of banks in the country will continue to decline, but we expect to be an acquirer, not an acquiree."
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.