by Rachel Witkowski
Staff Writer
There is a definitive line between a credit union and a commercial bank, but what the industries in Jacksonville do have in common is rapid growth, said the regional presidents.
There are more than 25 different commercial banks and 25 different credit unions in Duval County. Many of the commercial banks hold at least $83 million in area deposits and $10 million at credit unions. Wachovia and VyStar Credit Union both exceed $1 billion in deposits.
“Florida, in general, is just an enormous banking market. It’s the fourth most populated state in the country,” said Bob Helms, the chief executive officer of Wachovia for Florida. “We’ll overtake New York in three years.”
The population base, a diverse economy and an attractive area are the primary drivers for a successful bank, said Helms. The fastest-growing Wachovia branches in the state are in the Gulf Coast region.
“Jacksonville is also holding its own in terms of growing,” said Helms, adding that Wachovia is performing better in Jacksonville than Miami.
There are 35 Wachovia branches in Jacksonville, totaling $1 billion worth of assets in the area and $550 billion worth of assets in the company, not including the recent merger with SouthTrust, according to Helms. Wachovia has experienced 91 mergers since the 1980s. Its latest was 18 months ago when SouthTrust bought Wachovia and the Wachovia name. Helms said the mergers create growth in terms of size, scope and scale in that they “free up capital investment,” allowing “more convenience and a better located branch structure.”
Many other banks are experiencing similar mergers such as the recent union of AmSouth and Regions banks. Whether mergers help or hinder the success of the company varies among bankers.
“The nice thing about credit unions is that they can’t be bought or sold,” said John Hirabayashi, president/CEO of Community First Credit Union of Florida, which is on a par with VyStar as the top credit union in Jacksonville. “A lot of people are looking for an alternative and they want to do business with us.”
The biggest difference between credit unions and commercial banks is that credit unions are owned by members and banks are owned by stockholders. But presidents of banks will add that credit unions don’t pay taxes, leaving banks at a slight disadvantage. As for the smaller community banks, Gil Pomar, president/CEO of The Jacksonville Bank, said there’s plenty of room for growth.
“This is a great town to grow a bank in,” he said. “I wish all of these other banks well because there is room for everybody and if they do well, it won’t necessarily hurt us.”
AmSouth popping with branches
It’s probably the only bank in Jacksonville where customers can fill their account and stomachs, but for Marty Lanahan, AmSouth market manager for North Florida, it’s a bank popping with success.
Since Lanahan was hired as city president of AmSouth six-and-a-half years ago, the bank has nearly quadrupled in size.
“We had six branches at the time that I came here and now we have 21 branches,” she said.
And AmSouth will be opening four more branches by the end of the year, according to Lanahan. But it’s not just the number of branches that have increased. Six years ago the bank went from $200 billion in loans to its current $1 billion. AmSouth is now the seventh-biggest bank in town and by the end of 2004, the area deposits increased almost $150 million from the previous year to total $473 million.
“We’ve worked really hard to grow at that rate,” said Lanahan. “You’ve got to do it bigger, but you’ve got to have some kind of efficiency.”
AmSouth also recently announced a merger with Regions Financial Corp., which is expected to create $400 million in cost savings. Most of the bank’s growth is because of the employees and their customer training, she said. The tellers, administration and even Lanahan will leave their desk to assist people in the lobby. Lanahan also makes sure that she builds a relationship with her employees by cooking dinners for them at her home when there’s a contest, throwing a sales rally and attending the AmSouth family picnic at a Suns game every year.
“It’s all about the people,” she said. “You have to support those people in their jobs.”
With 20 years of banking experience at two banks, Lanahan said she’s learned a lot since her first job as a soda jerk at a pharmacy in South Carolina.
“You have to be willing to take risks,” she said. “Every day is totally different, which is what I love.”
Not too big, not too small, just right
The Jacksonville Bank might be among the youngest banks in Jacksonville, but it’s also one of the largest community banks in town.
Gil Pomar has been the president and CEO of The Jacksonville Bank since it first opened seven years ago. The bank has grown to five branches with $305 million in assets and is the largest publicly-traded community bank in Jacksonville, according to Pomar. And though it’s not as large as Wachovia or SunTrust, Jacksonville Bank has never experienced a merger and Pomar is satisfied with its rate of growth.
“We’re comfortable with who we are in the life cycle right now,” he said. “But we think we can accomplish a lot more.”
One of the goals that Pomar said he‘s committed to is offering a community bank where customers “get the sense of high-tech and high-touch at the same time.” The bank does not ask for incentive dollars and does not have a credit administration department, but it does make all decisions locally, according to Pomar.
“We don’t say ‘We can’t do a loan,’ we say ‘We chose not to’ and tell why,” he said.
At a bank with 60 employees, Pomar is able to personally interview the final candidates for a position, something that helps him decide who fits the “very nurturing and very rewarding” atmosphere.
“We like to take the extra time to listen,” he said. “They (the customers) need different things, but they need someone to listen.”
With 23 years of experience in banking at six different commercial banks, Pomar said it was a very difficult decision to leave his previous job at First Union (which was bought by Wachovia) to become president of a smaller community bank. But it was worth it.
“It was the best professional decision I’ve ever made in my entire life,” he said. “I’m really proud to be a banker.”
A man of his Wheaties
The best CEO is a healthy CEO, according to Terry West, president/CEO of VyStar Credit Union — a motto that West lives by every single day.
At 4:30 a.m., while many of his employees are still asleep, West is getting ready to drive to the YMCA for an hour-and-a-half workout before heading to the office by 8:30 a.m. In between meetings with executives, directors, new employees and the occasional visits to different branches, West has burned off his Wheaties and is ready for his vegetarian lunch of a grilled cheese sandwich and a banana — that is, if he has time for lunch.
“People here call me the health nut . . . I’m not,” he said. “As a CEO, you need to stay in good shape.”
The rest of West’s day varies with tasks that can leave him in the office until 7:30 p.m. And West repeats this every day of the week, and sometimes, weekends. He’s single and doesn’t have any kids, but what West does have is VyStar — the biggest credit union in Jacksonville.
“This is where I like to be. I love what I do,” he said. “You have 1,100 employees and you feel like they’re your family.”
West came to VyStar in 1988 as the vice president of member services for the regional branches when VyStar was known as Jax Navy Federal Credit Union. There were 200 employees, according to West. In December 1991, he was hired as the CEO and has helped the credit union grow to its current $3.1 billion worth of assets and 344,000 members — the largest credit union in North Florida, according to West.
From starting out of college as an eighth grade math teacher, West continues to teach people every day at VyStar, he said. And at 52 years old with no medical problems, West will be running the credit union for a long time.
“I want to live to be at least 100.”
The following is a list of all commercial banks and credit unions in Jacksonville and who runs them locally:
Commercial banks
American Enterprise Bank of Florida
Bennett Brown, president/CEO
AmSouth Bank
Marty Lanahan, market manager of North Florida
Atlantic Coast Federal
Robert Larison, president
BB&T
Jim Daly, regional president
Bank of America
Jim Gallagher, Jacksonville president
CNL Bank
Jim Miller, president
CenterBank of Jacksonville
Raymond Mason, president
Compass Bank
Robert White, president
EverBank of Florida
David Strickland, president/CEO
First Bank of Jacksonville
Cindy Delparte, president
First Guaranty Bank & Trust Co.
Julian “Jay” Fant, president/CEO
IronStone Bank
Reid Sides, area executive
The Jacksonville Bank
Gil Pomar, president/CEO
Mercantile Bank
Cindy Stover, market president for the Northeast region
Monticello Bank
Bill Marsh, president/CEO
Oceanside Bank
Barry Chandler, president/CEO/chairman
Peoples First Community Bank
Roger Sutton, city president
Prosperity Bank
Kevin Cannon, market president
SunTrust Bank
John Schmitt, president/CEO/chairman
Synovus Bank of Jacksonville
Damon Bolinto, president and chief operating officer
Wachovia
Kelly Madden, regional vice president for North Florida
Credit unions
Central Credit Union of Florida
Shelly Pendexter, branch manager
City & Police Federal Credit Union
Steven Benjamin, president/CEO
Coastline Federal Credit Union
Wayne Harubin, president
Community First Credit Union
John Hirabayashi, president/CEO
Country Federal Credit Union
W. Brian Yarbrough, president/CEO
Ducote Federal Credit Union
Walter White, chairman
Duval Federal Credit Union
Jay Hogan, president
Farmers Federal Credit Union
David Anderson, president
First Coast Federal Credit Union
Jack Strickland, president
First Florida Credit Union
Linda Jones, president/CEO
Florida Baptist Credit Union
Bill Williams, president/CEO
Florida Telco Credit Union
William Braddock, president/CEO
HealthAmerica Credit Union
Maurice J. Pilver, president/CEO
J M Associates Federal Credit Union
James Ryan, president
Jacksonville Post & Professional Credit Union
Kirk Gillum, president
Jax Federal Credit Union
Gerri Sexsion, president
Jax Metro Credit Union
Sheree Eddie, president
Navy Federal Credit Union
VADM John A. Lockard, USN (Ret.), chairman
OMNI Community Credit Union
Karen Hamilton, CEO
PowerNet Credit Union
Jim McMurry, president
Seaboard Credit Union
Neil Maddux, chairman
Southeast Corporate Federal Credit Union
Bill Birdwell, president/CEO
State Employees Credit Union
Paul W. Callen, CEO
VyStar Credit Union
Terry West, president/CEO