Lane Redding is focused on growth, in all aspects of her professional life.
As a Florida-based market president and senior lender at United Community supporting four regional branches, Redding spent 2025 finding new ways to help her organization grow — as well as her colleagues, her community, and the businesses she supports as a banking executive.
While participating in United's annual leadership academy in 2024, Redding helped develop and pitch a business banking program to the executive team, having identified a critical talent-development gap within the bank's operations.
"We didn't have a direct path from branch banking to commercial lending," she said, noting that talented retail staff had few pathways to career growth other than leaving United, gaining experience elsewhere, and then hoping to return to the bank in a larger role. "It felt like, when are we going to start developing our own talent," she queried.
She also saw it as an opportunity to invest in future customers. Redding, who served as chair of the Walton Country chamber of commerce in 2025, is passionate about small business, and knows that entrepreneurs often feel left behind by the banking industry. "We can make these small businesses feel huge," she said. "But we need a workforce to do that."
The business banking program, which provides internal development and structured training to associates, was adopted by the executive committee and launched in 2025. Jami Bucy, Redding's leadership academy teammate (and longtime friend), now serves as director of business banking. In 2025, the department hired five business bankers — four of which were internal — and plans to increase by 50 business bankers in its first three years.
"We've known each other for 10 years and worked together at BBVA before United, and Lane is fearless, competent and assertive," Bucy said. "She just wants to serve, teach people things, and celebrate their success."
That focus on teaching led Redding and her team to launch a proactive effort throughout 2025 to help their customers better protect themselves as USPS-related check-fraud schemes were impacting businesses and exposing vulnerable checking information on the dark web.
Redding flagged at-risk customers — any business client writing more than 10 checks per month — and reached out to alert them of increasingly savvy fraudsters as well as educate them on United's Positive Pay, a service and tool that helps prevent fraud. Redding's initiative achieved a 100% communication rate, and throughout the year saw a significant decrease of fraud in her market.
"I always tell my customers, my job is to keep you out of the bank, and free from worrying about banking," said Redding, who moved to Gulf Coast Bank and Trust as a market president in June 2026. "If you're spending too much time on banking, we're making a mistake. I want to help business owners spend time on what they're good at."
