Blue Ridge Bankshares files FDIC application to form N.C. bank

Organizers of Carolina State Bank in Greensboro, N.C., have filed an application for deposit insurance.

The de novo, which would operate as part of the $423 million-asset Blue Ridge Bankshares in Luray, Va., would be based in an area north of downtown Greensboro where numerous banks have large branches, according to a public notice.

The comment period for the proposed bank’s application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will end on July 11.

A copy of the application wasn’t immediately available.

Blue Ridge, which already has a mortgage operation based in Greensboro, hired Seth Moore earlier this year as its North Carolina market president. Moore has held posts at several banks with North Carolina operations, including BNC Bancorp, Fidelity Bank and SunTrust Banks.

Don Vaughan, a Greensboro lawyer and former state senator, and Ken Flynt, a veteran banker and associate dean of Western Carolina University, would co-chair Carolina State, according to an invitation to an April 18 reception tied to the bank’s formation.

Other prominent professionals are expected to join the board, including Elizabeth Cone, a philanthropist and a member of one of Greensboro’s most prominent families, and Chip Hagan, a lawyer and the husband of former Sen. Kay Hagan.

Blue Ridge has seven mortgage offices across North Carolina.

There are no banks based in Greensboro after a series of acquisitions in recent years. As recently as 2015, at least three banks — Carolina Bank, NewBridge Bancorp and Premier Commercial Bank — were based in the city.

NewBridge bought Premier Commercial in February 2015, only to be sold itself a year later to Yadkin Financial. F.N.B. Corp. in Pittsburgh bought Yadkin last year. Carolina Bank was sold in March 2017 to First Bancorp in Southern Pines, N.C.

Three North Carolina groups have pending applications with the FDIC to form banks, with each aiming to become the state’s first new bank since 2009. The other proposed banks are Community Bank of the Carolinas in Winston-Salem and Spirit Community Bank in Statesville. Another group is looking to form American Bank & Trust in Monroe; it has yet to file an application with regulators.

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Community banking De novo institutions Capital North Carolina
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