Comerica is furthering its expansion in the Southeast, establishing specialized offices in South Carolina and Georgia and weighing its next steps.
The Dallas-based company has set up commercial banking offices in Charleston and Greenville in South Carolina, and it also has established a private banking office in Atlanta, according to a news release Monday.
The moves are further steps in Comerica's journey to expand into the fast-growing region, which has drawn
Despite the "really strong competitors" in the Southeast, Comerica's product set and relationship-based approach stand out and draw customers, said Jerry Bowen, the company's Southeast market president.
"I think Comerica's got a really good story to tell, and I think it resonates with the marketplace," said Bowen, who joined Comerica from Wells Fargo last year to spearhead the expansion.
The $84 billion-asset company has long had seven retail branches in Florida and more recently has sought a bigger foothold in the Southeast. Last year it added 28 employees in North Carolina in offices in Charlotte and Raleigh. Next year, it plans on opening another an office in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The plan is to eventually establish retail branches in states beyond Florida. The states in the region that Comerica is focusing on are Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, according to Bowen, who is based in Raleigh.
"We absolutely have plans to grow retail banking into these markets," Bowen said, though the first step is building out its commercial banking and wealth management presence.
The Southeast is experiencing significant population growth and has many companies relocating to the region, Bowen said. Middle-market companies in particular are experiencing strong growth, providing opportunities for Comerica given its focus on the sector, Bowen said.
The commercial bankers it has hired will take a "generalist approach" to drawing in business, Bowen said, though he listed service-oriented businesses; health care; oil and gas; automotive manufacturing; and distribution logistics as some key industries in individual markets.
Outside Texas, Comerica has a substantial presence in California, Florida, Arizona and Michigan. The bank shifted its headquarters from Detroit to Dallas in 2007.
