First Reliance Bancshares in Florence, S.C., has promoted its recently hired chief banking officer, Robert Dozier, to president of the holding company and chief operating officer of its banking unit.
Dozier joined the $781 million-asset company in January. He has previously been chief business officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta and chief operating officer at Homeowners Mortgage in Columbia, S.C.
First Reliance has also promoted Charles Stuart to president of First Reliance Mortgage, the home lending unit within the bank.
The company is expanding its presence in the Carolinas. CEO Rick Saunders has spent recent months retooling the leadership team in preparation for a revenue-growth push in 2021. In November,
Saunders said in a news release announcing the promotions of Dozier and Stuart last week that Dozier’s charge to drive growth while maintaining the current corporate culture is crucial if First Reliance is to “become a leading bank and regional presence across the Carolinas."
First Reliance is aiming to rely heavily on its mortgage business under Stuart to get there. Its mortgage production nearly doubled in the third quarter compared with a year earlier to $204 million, driven largely by prospective homebuyers and existing homeowners chasing historically low rates, according to the company.
"The mortgage business has been the shining star of our already remarkable year, accounting for a large percentage of our noninterest income and overall net income, and I see that continuing,” Saunders said in the announcement.
