Florida Banking October 2023

Answering the Community's Call Evermore Bank:

F ort-Lauderdale-based de novo Evermore Bank was founded in December 2022 at the urging of its local community and future customers. Steven Sanzone, CEO of Evermore Bank, decided to answer the call for a “high tech, high touch” community bank that delivered personal service, modern solutions, and the best coffee. “Our customers really wanted us to start a community bank in Broward. We listened to our customers, and here we are,” Sanzone said. Sanzone is an experienced banker with previous de novo experience, having co-founded Stonegate Bank back in 2004 alongside colleague Kris Barnhart. He turned to Barnhart and his former Marquis Bank

working with the regulators and that it “felt like they were part of the team.” As a de novo , Evermore Bank has the unique opportunity to innovate and implement new solutions out of the gate. “With a new bank, you develop the procedures. You write the policies. Over the last year, we’ve diligently put new models into place,” Feller said. “Our staff identifies new issues every day; if they find a better way to do something, they’re empowered to go ahead and do it.” Every employee is involved in this process of building the bank from the ground up; management gives staff the autonomy to problem-solve, promoting an “ownership” mentality.

colleague Filip Feller to help him start Evermore Bank at the height of the pandemic. Barnhart is president and CLO, and Feller is CFO. “After almost two years of strategic thinking, hard work, and long hours from Fil, Kris and I, Evermore Bank was founded in December of 2022,” Sanzone said.“There’s never a right time to open a bank, but we just happened to be dealing with rising rates and bank failures, which was tough… all within the first seven months.” The executive team and directors raised over $26 million primarily from the local community. Today,

“We get to start from scratch. What’s great about being a small bank is that when a customer wants something, we’re nimble enough to say ‘yeah, we can find that for you,’” Barnhart said. “Fil does an incredible job finding vendors that can provide us with terrific tech to serve our customers. And our customers get to open up with that tech — we don’t have to introduce it to them years into the relationship.” Implementing new technologies, like the instant payment service FedNow, is part of the bank’s business plan. “All banks must have

“OUR CUSTOMERS REALLY WANTED US TO START A COMMUNITY BANK IN BROWARD. WE LISTENED TO OUR CUSTOMERS, AND HERE WE ARE.”

- STEVEN SANZONE

cutting-edge technology to survive,” Sanzone said. “But we don’t lose sight of the human touch that our customers value.” Sanzone, Barnhart and Feller pick up the phone for customers, listing their personal cell numbers on their business cards. The team prioritizes transparency, sending frequent emails to shareholders and customers to keep them informed. “We want to be accessible to our customers,” Barnhart said. “I want customers to call and talk to me, or talk to my lenders, so we can understand what they need and then service those needs.” One of the bank’s directors, Max Sebastiani of Dynasty Realty, enjoys giving tours to show off the bank. Sebastiani owns local shopping centers and brings Evermore Bank, Continued on page 10

nearly 10 months later, the bank has more than $80 million in assets and two locations serving Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties. Evermore Bank opened its Wellington branch in January, just 30 days after its founding. “It became apparent that there was a need for a local bank catering to the business community. Frankly, the South Florida market is very strong,” Barnhart said. “We don’t have to go out and cold call customers. Those folks who wanted us to open a bank followed up by banking with us. The deposits and loans we’ve generated in such a short period of time speak to our customers’ loyalty.” The team was grateful for the support from its regulators, who were always helpful and willing to answer questions. Sanzone said it was enjoyable

WWW.FLORIDABANKERS.COM OCTOBER 2023 — 9