WINTER
HAVEN, Fla., July 25,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SouthState Bank recently
launched a comprehensive small business banking team to meet the
growing demand in its Southeastern footprint.
"Offering our small business customers a line of products that
fits their needs, accompanied by well-rounded, knowledgeable
bankers and a library of small business resources, are enhancements
we know business owners across the Southeast will benefit from,"
says Richard Murray, SouthState
president. "Small business owners make local economies thrive, and
SouthState is committed to supporting both."
Matt Vegter was
promoted to director of small business banking to grow and serve
SouthState's small business sector. A banker for 15 years, Vegter
helped to develop a small business loan program, Business Lending
Express, which streamlined and simplified the underwriting process
for small business loans. This program created efficiencies for
both the bank and small business clients by decreasing loan
origination costs and reducing the time to decision.
Vegter holds a bachelor's degree in finance from Southeastern University and a master's degree in
business administration from Stetson
University. He's a graduate of the Florida School of Banking
as well as the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University
of Philadelphia.
Vegter has built a team of experienced small business bankers,
pulling from capable bankers at SouthState and other financial
institutions. Members of the team include the following:
Jack Baker brings 16
years of banking experience to the small business banking team.
Most recently, he served as a SouthState branch manager in
Jacksonville, Florida. He's also
held the roles of assistant branch manager, mortgage loan officer
and teller during his career.
Holton Bell joins
SouthState after several years working in client relations, most
recently at Addicus LLC in Alabama. He brings experience as a private
banker at BBVA Compass Bank and as a financial advisor at Raymond
James.
Krystle Mall moves into the small business banking role
after 10 years as a SouthState branch manager, most recently in
Gastonia, North Carolina after
relocating from the Myrtle
Beach/Conway area of
South Carolina, where she began
her banking career with SouthState in 2004.
Ross Marley continues
to serve Charleston, South
Carolina, most recently as a business banker before joining
the small business team. A member of SouthState since 2015, he's
also worked as a financial services representative and lead credit
analyst.
Mike Marshall comes
to SouthState from Intercoastal Financial Group in Fort Pierce, Florida, where he served as a
finance broker since 2018, cultivating relationships with dealers,
brokers and lenders. Other past career roles include director of
retail sales, market sales manager and general manager at Drivetime
LLC.
Ray Merritt joined
SouthState as a financial services representative in 2011, holding
roles of increasing responsibility ever since. Most recently,
Merritt served as the branch manager in Conway, where his branch led the Grand Strand
market in goals for two consecutive years.
Brian Moon also moves from
the branch manager role in Tucker,
Georgia, to the small business banking team. He has almost
20 years of banking experience and knowledge from working at Bank
of America, Wells Fargo, SunTrust and SouthState.
Adam Odom joins the
small business team after seven years as a branch manager for
SouthState in Columbia, South
Carolina. He began his career in banking in 2001, previously
working at Wells Fargo, SunTrust and BB&T.
Lauren Thompson spent
the last eight years serving SouthState's Richmond market as a branch manager before
moving to small business banking. She gained additional experience
as a personal banker for First Enterprise Bank and retail banker
with Woodforest National Bank.
SouthState also welcomes the following new hires to its private
wealth and middle market banking teams:
Phillip R. Garrison – private
wealth advisor, Charlotte, North
Carolina – brings many years of experience and deep
expertise in trust administration and insurance consulting to his
new role. Prior to joining SouthState, he was a senior fiduciary
officer for a large national bank. He received a B.B.A. in Trust
and Wealth Management from Campbell
University.
Mike Maguire – private wealth
relationship manager, Jacksonville,
Florida – spent 16 years with a large regional bank and
managed their wealth division in North
Florida for the last 10 years. In addition, his career
experience includes 23 years with Barnett
Bank in various leadership roles throughout the state of
Florida. Maguire earned a
bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration
in finance from the University of Central
Florida and is a graduate of the American Bankers
Association's National Commercial Lending Graduate School at the
University of Oklahoma.
Mia Mendez – private wealth
associate, Jacksonville,
Florida – comes to SouthState following a 10-year career at
Truist. She will support Maguire, whom she worked with previously
in Jacksonville under the BB&T
banner. During her 17 years in the financial services industry,
Mendez has held roles including banker assistant, foreclosure
specialist and wealth support specialist. She holds a bachelor's
degree in sociology from George State University.
Brian Combs – middle market
business development executive, Richmond, Virginia – most recently worked as a
member of the Mid-Atlantic Corporate Banking group at PNC, where he
managed relationships with mid-sized and large companies
headquartered throughout most of Virginia. Previously, Combs has also held
relationship management roles in Middle Market Banking at Wells
Fargo and Corporate Banking at SunTrust. During his career,
Combs has managed relationships with many publicly-traded,
private-equity owned, and family-owned businesses in various
industries.
SouthState Corporation (NASDAQ: SSB) is a financial services
company headquartered in Winter Haven,
Florida. SouthState Bank, N.A., the company's nationally
chartered bank subsidiary, provides consumer, commercial, mortgage
and wealth management solutions to more than one million customers
throughout Florida, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. The bank also serves clients coast
to coast through its correspondent banking division. Additional
information is available at SouthStateBank.com.
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SOURCE SouthState Bank N.A.