Florida Banking September 2023

KUDOS

United Southern Bankers Become Instant Detroit Tigers Fans I n August 2022, Kerry Carpenter made his major league debut with the Detroit Tigers, having been pulled up from Triple-A Toledo after a short 34-game stint that followed his time in Double-A Erie with the Tigers organization. Carpenter is the son of the late Ken Carpenter, United Southern Bank’s longtime senior trust officer who passed away in 2020 from cancer.

R oughly 16 months after it became the first financial institution to operate in the heart of Newtown, BayFirst National Bank has officially become a permanent fixture in the community. The St. Petersburg-based community bank recently purchased the building it had rented at 1782 Dr. Luther King Way since January 2022, with plans to convert the loan production office (LPO) and financial resource center into a full-service banking center, under the continued direction of Business Development Specialists and Newtown area natives Joe McKenzie and Carlos Yancy. “The success of our LPO and financial resource center has been unprecedented, and the purchase of our building is an exciting next step as we continue to Drafted in the 19th round in 2019 after two years at St. Johns State College and one year at Virginia Tech, Carpenter is lighting it up with the Tigers in 2023, batting .282 with 15 home runs and 41 RBIs in a season abbreviated by six weeks due to an injury from a home run-robbing collision with the outfield wall. Carpenter typically plays in right or left field and sometimes bats in the Designated Hitter role. In April, with two outs and a full count in the bottom of the 9th inning, Carpenter hit a walk-off home run to beat Cleveland 4-3. He hit three home runs over two games against the Mariners in July, securing a 6-0 victory for the Tigers. Carpenter then repeated this feat in two games against the Red Sox in mid-August with two hits over the Green Monster. “We have a Kerry Carpenter fan club around the bank — five or six of us who check in on all of Kerry’s games — as well as board members who closely follow his stats,” said Greg Nelson, CEO of United Southern Bank. Carpenter’s sister, Haley Carpenter, joined United Southern Bank in January and now works in the administration area of USB’s Trust Department in Eustis where her dad worked for 17 years. With her degree from the University of Florida and guidance

From left to right: Julie Carpenter, Kerry Carpenter, and Haley Carpenter.

look for new and more impactful ways to support this community,” said BayFirst Market President and Chief Lending Officer Tom Quale.“We look forward to better assisting residents and business owners by expanding the services and products available to them as a full-service branch and further ingraining ourselves in the community through increased partnerships and support.” Since opening, BayFirst’s LPO and financial resource center has supported more than a dozen nonprofits through free meeting space, volunteer hours, financial literacy courses, and financial counseling. It has also provided more than $6.6 million in loans to local business owners and residents, including more than $1 million in construction loans for affordable housing in Newtown. from Senior Trust Officer Andre Nacaxe, Haley is quickly learning the in-depth knowledge required to be a Trust Administrator. “If I miss catching the highlights of Kerry’s game the previous day, I check in with Haley first thing, and get not only his stats but also the inside scoop on how he’s playing!” Nelson said.“Our Senior Management Team at USB has been very close over the years, and we’ve all watched our collective kids grow up. Knowing Ken like we did, we all know that he would be beaming with pride for both Kerry and Haley. In fact, we are all proud of them both.”

BayFirst National Bank to Expand Presence in Newtown

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