SmartBank enters Nashville after hiring three lenders

SmartFinancial in Knoxville, Tenn., has hired a team of bankers to enter Nashville, Tenn.

The $4.4 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that it had recruited two bankers from Triumph Bank, along with a lender from Reliant Bank, to pursue commercial and consumer relationships in Nashville. 

Rachael Meurrier, formerly with Triumph, will become SmartBank’s Williamson County market executive. Tony Graves, who had been at Reliant, will be a senior vice president. 

Kent Stone, who had also worked at Triumph, was named a regional mortgage production manager. 

“The Nashville market area provides tremendous growth opportunities, and we are very pleased to expand our market bench strength with these three experienced banking professionals,” Billy Carroll, SmartFinancial’s president and CEO, said in the release. 

“We have long viewed the Nashville market as a natural expansion area for us and these additions are excellent steps towards fulfilling that goal and creating greater density in that market,” Carroll added.

 

“While we’ve been active in the Nashville MSA through the support of our Murfreesboro … team, these professionals provide the boots-on-the-ground support needed to further increase our market penetration,” David Scott, the bank’s middle Tennessee regional president, said in the release. “As we continue our Nashville expansion, this team serves as a great foundation.”