LONG-TERM PLANNING.

• Author: Mildenberg, David
• Position: STATE WIDE: Charlotte

Two Charlotte area groups are poised to become the first bank startups in the state since 2009. Bill Long, who has lived in Iredell County for 30 years, is leading the proposed Spirit Community Bank to capture some of the Lake Norman area's rapid growth. Long, 71, started, then later sold Statesville-based Piedmont Bank to a predecessor of FNB before he exited the industry in 2011. The N.C. Banking Commission is expected to consider Spirit's application in June, after which Long anticipates organizers will have to raise $20 million to $30 million from investors.

In Union County, just south of Charlotte, a group led by True Homes USA CEO David Cuthbertson and veteran bankers W.R. "Randy" Adcock and Randy Helton also intend to open a bank. Long and Adcock previously worked for Yadkin Bank, which was acquired last year by Pittsburgh-based FNB. Helton co-founded Monroe-based American Community Bank in 1998; it was later bought by Yadkin.

Industry consolidation has hit the Charlotte area significantly in the last few years. Bank of America is the only commercial lender based in the Queen City after Park National of Ohio agreed to buy NewDominion Bank for about $76 million in January. The city used to boast a half-dozen or more locally owned banks.

Still, the Charlotte metropolitan area has at least seven locally owned banks, ranging in size from Alliance Bank & Trust of Gastonia with about $142 million in assets to Newton-based Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina with $1.1 billion. Two other area banks, Albemarle-based Uwharrie Bank and Granite...