Rhea County’s biggest bank is preparing to expand into both Chattanooga and Cleveland, Tennessee this year with full-service bank branches as part of the bank’s plans to double in size over the next five years by growing its footprint across East Tennessee.
Simply Bank, which combined Rhea County’s two biggest banks in March, has filed applications with bank regulators to open a new branch in the former FSG and later Atlantic Capital Bank office on Gunbarrel Road in East Brainerd and at a former SunTrust branch location on 25th Street in downtown Cleveland, Tennessee.
The new Gunbarrel office, which FirstBank shut down in 2019 following its purchase of 14 area Atlantic Capital Bank branches, will be the first in the city of Chattanooga for Simply Bank, although the bank has operated another branch in Hamilton County in Soddy Daisy since 2002 and has operated a branch just over the state line in Rossville, Georgia since 1963. Bank officials said they hope to open the new Gunbarrel Road site with a half dozen or more staffers by later this summer.
“As we introduce ourselves to Chattanooga, we see the Gunbarrel Road and Hamilton Place area as the heartbeat of Chattanooga where we can have the most impact and reach consumers where they live and shop,” said Anthony Lastoria, head of retail banking for Simply Bank who is overseeing the office conversion.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / The former Atlantic Capital building is seen on Friday, May 21, 2021 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Simply Bank will be expanding into the space in East Brainerd.Simply Bank, which traces its roots back to 1890, is also adding a full-service branch in Cleveland within the next year and will do the same in Knoxville next year in cities where it now operates loan production offices.