TRIAD TRYOUT: A STARTUP FINANCIAL INSTITUTION PLANS TO OPEN IN GREENSBORO THIS MONTH WITH MORE THAN $50 MILLION IN THE BANK.

• Author: Mildenberg, David

Triad Business Bank wants to reflect the economic vitality of its region, which has lost the headquarters of several locally based banks through buyouts over the last six years, CEO Ramsey Hamadi says. By exceeding regulators' mini' mum requirement for $48.5 million in capital, the bank is poised to be one of the largest startup U.S. banks formed since the recession of 2007-09.

About $40 million of the $51 million raised through early February came from Triad and N.C. businesspeople. The plan is to have offices in Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem and target the 10,200 Triad businesses that have annual revenue of $1 million to $100 million. The bank will rely on funding its loans with deposits from its business customers and wealthy individuals instead of retail sales of certificates of deposits and savings accounts to consumers.

Hamadi says the new bank's success relies on the support of the 15 directors and four executives who have committed 20% of the capital raised, or about $10 million. Among those making the biggest commitments, each topping $500,000, include:

* Stanley Bradshaw, a veteran bank investor and former CEO who lives in Pinehurst

* Kenan Wright, president of Eden-based general contractor The Wright Co.

* Kevin Jessup, managing partner of Salem Investment Partners, a Greensboro-based private equity group * Chris Dunbar, president of High Point-based Blue Ridge Co., a real estate developer

* Greg York, president of High Point-based Vann York Auto Group, which owns five car dealerships

* Hamadi, a Marine who came to the Triad to work at Greensboro-based New Bridge Bank in 2009 after serving as chief financial officer of St. Louis-based Pulaski Bank

Other directors of Triad Business Bank include Arthur Samet, CEO of contractor Samet Corp.; Nexsen Pruet lawyer Christine Myatt; and Ed Pearce, president of Tencarva Machinery.

"Before we started the offering, we worked to make sure that in all three cities, we had leaders in the community who wanted to be part of this bank," Hamadi says. Triad leaders recognized that less than 2% of the region's deposits were held by local community banks last year, down from...