C&F’s branch on Patterson Avenue in the West End. (Michael Schwartz)
As out-of-town banks have flocked to Richmond in search of new revenue, a local bank recently followed a similar strategy in its furthest push westward outside its home market.
C&F Bank last month expanded its presence in the Charlottesville market with the addition of a team of commercial bankers brought over from a competitor. That adds to a group of residential mortgage lenders the bank has had on the ground there for several years.
“We’ve always looked at Charlottesville as a potential market,” said C&F president Tom Cherry. “When we look at a market, we try to build a team versus just building branches. We have what we think is a very talented team in the market.”
They found that team in William Krebs, Stephanie Johnson and Lora Mintz, who all came over from Fulton Bank. Krebs, who was also previously with Sonabank and the former Provident Bank, serves as C&F’s Charlottesville area president, Cherry said.
The group will focus on winning business for commercial and industrial loans, small business loans, and loans on owner-occupied commercial real estate and commercial investment properties.
Cherry wouldn’t comment on what sort of loan volume targets the bank has set for the new market.
He said the move is an effort to grab new commercial lending business in a new market in light of heightened competition in Richmond in the last several years that has had some bankers questioning whether the region is “overbanked.”
“We’re still very high on the Richmond market, but (competition in) commercial lending in general is very strong,” Cherry said. “This is an opportunity to add another geographic area to hopefully be competitive in.”
The bank has taken office on the Mall in downtown Charlottesville for the time being.
Cherry said the Charlottesville expansion marks the bank’s biggest push into a new market since it expanded into Peninsula market in Hampton Roads about a decade ago.
C&F is headquartered in West Point and has 25 branches, including 17 in the Richmond market. It had $1.41 billion in total assets as of the end of the second quarter. It controls more than $750 million in deposits in the Richmond market, accounting for slightly less than 1 percent of the market share and trailing only Union Bank & Trust and larger players such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, BB&T and SunTrust.
C&F’s branch on Patterson Avenue in the West End. (Michael Schwartz)
As out-of-town banks have flocked to Richmond in search of new revenue, a local bank recently followed a similar strategy in its furthest push westward outside its home market.
C&F Bank last month expanded its presence in the Charlottesville market with the addition of a team of commercial bankers brought over from a competitor. That adds to a group of residential mortgage lenders the bank has had on the ground there for several years.
“We’ve always looked at Charlottesville as a potential market,” said C&F president Tom Cherry. “When we look at a market, we try to build a team versus just building branches. We have what we think is a very talented team in the market.”
They found that team in William Krebs, Stephanie Johnson and Lora Mintz, who all came over from Fulton Bank. Krebs, who was also previously with Sonabank and the former Provident Bank, serves as C&F’s Charlottesville area president, Cherry said.
The group will focus on winning business for commercial and industrial loans, small business loans, and loans on owner-occupied commercial real estate and commercial investment properties.
Cherry wouldn’t comment on what sort of loan volume targets the bank has set for the new market.
He said the move is an effort to grab new commercial lending business in a new market in light of heightened competition in Richmond in the last several years that has had some bankers questioning whether the region is “overbanked.”
“We’re still very high on the Richmond market, but (competition in) commercial lending in general is very strong,” Cherry said. “This is an opportunity to add another geographic area to hopefully be competitive in.”
The bank has taken office on the Mall in downtown Charlottesville for the time being.
Cherry said the Charlottesville expansion marks the bank’s biggest push into a new market since it expanded into Peninsula market in Hampton Roads about a decade ago.
C&F is headquartered in West Point and has 25 branches, including 17 in the Richmond market. It had $1.41 billion in total assets as of the end of the second quarter. It controls more than $750 million in deposits in the Richmond market, accounting for slightly less than 1 percent of the market share and trailing only Union Bank & Trust and larger players such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, BB&T and SunTrust.