Heading south.

• Position: WESTERN REGION

After raising $64 million in a public offering in September, Entegra Financial has surged on the stock market while prepping for faster growth. The Franklin-based holding company for Macon Bank converted from a mutual savings bank by issuing shares for $10. Shares traded for about $16 in early May as Entegra plans to use the cash infusion to expand in upstate South Carolina and other markets. It opened a loan-production office in Greenville, S.C., earlier this year "that will make a significant difference in our loan growth for the coming year," CEO Roger Piemens says. Founded in 1922, it now has more than $900 million in assets and 11 retail branches located in western North Carolina. (None are in Asheville, though some loans are made there.) Like most peers, it suffered in the recession because of higher unemployment and more troubled loans, with the bank hit hard by defaults by owners of second homes in its key counties of Macon, Henderson, Jackson, Polk, Transylvania and Cherokee. It lost more than $40 million in 2010 and 2011. But unemployment in the region has declined more than 30% over the last four years, and...