About 30 miles north of Charlotte, the home of some of the nation’s largest banks, is the former textile town of Mooresville, N.C., which most banks largely ignored — until recently.
Mooresville has raised its profile in the past few years, becoming such a destination for Nascar operations, drivers, and fans that it calls itself “Race City, USA.”
The town has also caught the eye of many other businesses, including the home improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos. Inc., which moved its headquarters there last year.
Now banks are taking notice. In the past year four have entered Mooresville with a branch each, and four more are expected to move in within the next year.
Citizens South Bank of Gastonia opened a branch there a year ago, soon after deciding to move into faster-growing markets. Kim Price, the president and chief executive of the $492 million-asset bank, said the big attractions are the new Lowe’s headquarters and the consumer and business deposits and loans it could generate.
Lowe’s move 60 miles north from North Wilkesboro brought 1,200 jobs and hundreds of new residents. Dozens of other retail and manufacturing businesses have moved into the area to supply the company and support its employees. For example, a shopping center that sprang up near the headquarters includes six food outlets, a salon, and a mailing center.
RBC Centura Bank, headquartered in Rocky Mount, also likes Mooresville. The Royal Bank of Canada unit has largely focused its expansion efforts on Florida but opened a branch in town in May.
Jeff McDowell, RBC’s regional manager of personal business, said the area’s rapid growth has brought a lot of money into neighborhoods around Lake Norman, a bedroom community for Charlotte. Additionally, many Nascar drivers, including Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., have homes at Lake Norman.
“We have opened very few new branches in North Carolina, so that shows how important a market Mooresville is,” Mr. McDowell said.
The two other banks to enter in the past year are the $539 million-asset Catawba Valley Bank of Hickory and the 5-year-old First Trust Bank of Charlotte, whose assets total $205 million.
Those in the process of doing so are Fidelity Bank ($1.1 billion) of Fuquay-Varina, a Raleigh suburb; Southern Community Bank and Trust of Winston-Salem ($812 million); American Community Bank of Monroe ($283 million); and Mountain National Bank of Galax, Va. ($227 million).
Dan Wallace, the executive director of the Mooresville Chamber of Commerce, is not surprised by the wave of new banks, because it follows the area’s rapid growth and development. In the past 14 years Mooresville’s population has more than doubled, to about 22,000.
Bank deposits have risen by nearly 50%, to $582 million, in the past three years, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
“What this means is that there is money here, because banks go where the money’s at,” Mr. Wallace said.
Though Lowe’s relocation has no doubt been a boon, it is the Nascar connection that is driving much of the city’s growth and generating wealth. Two-dozen racing teams, with about 60 drivers, have moved their headquarters and garages to Mooresville. So far this year the top 20 drivers — some of which live there — have earned an average of $2.9 million, according to Nascar.
Tourism has also been big business since the Auto Racing Hall of Fame opened in Mooresville in 1997. The hall had 250,000 visitors in 2002 alone.
For nearly 100 years Mooresville was home to Burlington Industries’ denim plant, which closed in 1999. It has since been converted into garage space for several Nascar teams.
Mr. Price at Citizens South said that a few years ago banks avoided former mill towns but are now flocking to those, like Mooresville, that have reinvented themselves. And he said there is more than enough business for all the new banks, because the commercial and construction loans that banks make produce more development and business.
“Mooresville is growing like crazy,” said Mr. Price. “And the pie is getting pretty big, so there will be enough to go around.”
