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.
The new offices will grow the number of Simply Bank branches to 13, including bank offices in Rhea, Meigs, Polk, Roane, Bradley, Knox and Hamilton counties in Tennessee and in Catoosa and Walker counties in Georgia.
"We're confident SimplyBank adds value to this market with our unique brand of community banking," said John Owen, the president of Simply Bank. "Over the past three and a half years that I have been with the bank, we have done a growing amount of business in Chattanooga without having a physical location in the city and we recognized that we needed to be in Chattanooga just to better serve the customers we have and we hope to continue to grow our business."
Simply Bank is adding branches at a time when most banks are trimming their branch operations. From the peak in 1979 when Chattanooga banks operated a total of 179 offices, banks have trimmed their branch networks by more than 28%, closing 33 locations. in the 6-county Chattanooga metropolitan area.
Owens said Simply Bank is working to provide an array of banking services both online and in-person at its branch network.
"Customers have been told they either have to choose between big bank convenience and technology or community bank people and service," Lastoria said. "We reject that. At SimplyBank, we see technology and people, as well as branches and mobile apps, as working hand-in-hand to deliver good banking to our customers."
Since its March 2021 consolidation with commonly-owned Community National Bank, SimplyBank has added four full-service branches in communities neighboring Chattanooga, including locations in Flintstone, Ringgold and Rossville, Georgia, and Soddy-Daisy.
In Cleveland, chief revenue officer Kevin Smith said Simply Bank opened its loan production office last fall "and we've not looked back.
"We know Cleveland well, and we have a lot of quality existing relationships with this community, formed long before we ever had an office in town," Smith said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340