A North Georgia community bank plans to expand its presence in one of the state's fastest-growing localities, upgrading a loan production office it opened in August 2020 into a full-fledged branch.
The $565 million-asset First National Community Bank in Chatsworth expects to begin construction on the new branch — which will be its eleventh — later this summer. Located in Dallas, the county seat for Paulding County, the branch will sit about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta.
Paulding is the second-fastest-growing locality in Georgia, according to Michael Hughes, executive director of the county's economic development organization. First National Community's higher profile should help boost local small businesses, Hughes added.
"Certainly having greater access to capital helps," Hughes said. "Small-business development is something they're supportive of."
CEO Ryan Earnest called Paulding a "natural extension" of First National Community's geographic footprint, citing the region's accelerating growth along with proximity to Atlanta. The new branch, Earnest added, is well-situated in a busy commercial corridor. Even so, building from the ground up was Earnest's least-favorite expansion option, mainly because it was the most expensive.
Initial plans involved leasing an existing space, and First National Community actually identified two prime Dallas locations, only to see both snapped up by nonbank businesses. While Paulding is expanding, it is "not as commercially developed" as other markets, Earnest explained. "There's not a lot of empty buildings. We couldn't find another place that was suitable."
First National Community's planned Paulding branch will be smaller "than what we probably would have built 10 years ago," Earnest said. "Where you might have built a 5,000-square-foot office, 3,500 square feet seems to fit the bill now."
Pending regulatory approval, construction should begin mid-summer.
Ultimately, First National Community opted to move from its loan production office to a branch in Paulding because of the successful campaign led there by market president Alex Crenshaw. While the privately held First National Community did not detail its asset or deposit totals for Paulding, Crenshaw and his team hit every production target the bank set. "We developed our goals and provided them to [Crenshaw] and he and his team accomplished them," Earnest said.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Paulding's population grew 6% from 2020 to 2022, totaling 178,000 on July 1. It is expected to grow by 56% over the next 15 years, according to Hughes' economic development organization. Employment is projected to grow 25%.
Paulding's median household income topped $80,000, according to the Census Bureau, compared to the statewide figure of $65,030. Total employer establishments grew by 37% from 2017 to 2021, to 2,338.
While Paulding's economic development organization manages a grant program that offers seed capital to early stage small businesses, the county relies on community banks to step in and provide capital as firms mature, according to Hughes. Over time, though, Paulding's community banking base has shrunk, as local operators sold to out-of-town competitors. Currently, just one Georgia-based community bank, the $1.9 billion-asset Piedmont Bank in Peachtree Corner, maintains a branch in Paulding. Sixteen years ago, there were eight. In that same span, the size of Paulding's deposit market has grown by 43%, totaling $1.7 billion on June 30, 2022, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. statistics.
Earnest has led First National Community and its corporate parent, First Chatsworth Bancshares, since July 2021, when First Chatsworth acquired Heritage First Bank in Rome, Georgia. Earnest had served as CEO of Heritage First Bank since 2017. First Chatsworth reported net income totaling $3.2 million for the quarter ending March 31 and $8 million for 2022.
"We believe our exceeds-expectations customer service and relationship-based banking philosophy will meet the personal and business banking needs of Dallas," Crenshaw said last week in a statement.
