Chattanooga's First Volunteer rebrands as Builtwell Bank

Staff Photo by Dave Flessner / Pedestrians walk into the Builtwell Bank headquarters in downtown Chattanooga on Monday. The Chattanooga-based bank, which has been known as First Volunteer Bank since it relocated its headquarters from Marion County to Chattanooga in 1999, took on the new Builtwell name on Monday at all of its 24 bank branches. The Builtwell Bank moniker will appear later at First Bank of Dalton branches once the pending merger of the banks is completed.
Staff Photo by Dave Flessner / Pedestrians walk into the Builtwell Bank headquarters in downtown Chattanooga on Monday. The Chattanooga-based bank, which has been known as First Volunteer Bank since it relocated its headquarters from Marion County to Chattanooga in 1999, took on the new Builtwell name on Monday at all of its 24 bank branches. The Builtwell Bank moniker will appear later at First Bank of Dalton branches once the pending merger of the banks is completed.

Chattanooga's biggest locally owned bank took on a new identity Monday to reflect its growth into Georgia.

First Volunteer Bank, which acquired First Bank of Dalton last year, changed its name Monday to Builtwell Bank as it moves beyond the Volunteer State into Northwest Georgia.

"The Builtwell name demonstrates our continued commitment to being the well-built bank for which we are known, serving as the local economic engine for Tennessee and Georgia for another 118 years," Patti Steele, the president and CEO of Builtwell Bank, said in an announcement of the new name on Monday.

The new name is being put up on the 24 former First Volunteer Banks offices operating across East and Middle Tennessee and Northwest Georgia. Builtwell operates branches in 11 counties and reported assets of more than $1.4 billion as of March 31, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reports.

The new name will be put on branches of the First Bank of Dalton later this year after Builtwell completes its merger and acquisition of FBD Holding Company Inc., the holding company for First Bank, which operates six banking locations in Whitfield and Gordon counties and has assets of more than $600 million.

photo Staff Photo / Patti Steele, president and chief executive officer of First Volunteer Bank, speaks about her time at the bank during an interview at First Volunteer Bank headquarters in 2019 in Chattanooga. Steele has spent her entire banking career with First Volunteer Bank.

The acquisition of FBD Holdings is the biggest of nine bank purchases First Volunteer has made during the company's history, which dates back to its start as Marion Trust and Banking Co. in 1904.

Since relocating to downtown Chattanooga and renaming the bank First Volunteer Bank in 1999, First Volunteer has acquired other banks in Etowah, Lawrenceburg, Jameston, Jacksboro and Benton, Tennessee, and in Ringgold, Georgia.

First Bank of Dalton began in 1996 and has expanded over the past 26 years to include five offices in Dalton and another office in Calhoun, Georgia.

Steele said she expects a smooth transition as the Builtwell Bank brand begins to appear across the region this month.

"With this expansion further into Georgia, we realized the need to develop a new name for the bank that reflects our commitment to the communities we serve in both states," Steele said in an initial announcement of the new name.

Builtwell is the seventh-biggest bank among the 27 banks operating in metropolitan Chattanooga and the biggest bank headquartered in Chattanooga, according to the FDIC. As First Volunteer Bank, the bank reported net income of more than $21.5 million last year.

- Compiled by Dave Flessner

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