Wells Fargo stops puttering around with golf tournament.

• Position: Charlotte

It takes time to change a name that's had 131 years to make its marque, especially one so venerated in Tar Heel business. Two years after its acquisition by San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co., Wachovia still has its own website and branches, though signs and logos mention that it is "A Wells Fargo Company." Full conversion of its branches, once stretching coast to coast, isn't expected until the end of next year. North Carolina is last on the list.

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But the new parent is raising its profile in what had been Wachovia Corp.'s headquarters since 2001, when First Union Corp. merged with the Winston-Salem-based company and took its name. In August, Wells Fargo put its name on the golf tournament Wachovia started in 2003--and which Wells Fargo had held at arm's length since their merger at the end of 2008. The Charlotte bank's near failure, which led to it being sold at a bargain price, had rankled many, especially Wachovia shareholders. With regulators tightening scrutiny in the wake of the financial meltdown and taxpayers, stuck with the bill for bailing out troubled banks, bristling at any hint of extravagance, Wells Fargo executives felt the event "could send mixed signals about our priorities to many of our stakeholders."

In 2009, the Wachovia Championship became the Quail Hollow Championship, after its host country club. Wells Fargo honored Wachovia's financial commitment but vowed it would not use the tournament for "client entertainment events." Now, with concerns about such mixed signals quieted, the company is embracing the tournament, recently renamed the Wells Fargo Championship. "That's a good step in promulgating the brand in this area, probably part of the final stage of rebranding in the Carolinas," says Tony Plath, an associate professor of finance at UNC Charlotte.

The company is touting itself in the Queen City in other ways...