BankUnited, TC Bancshares entering new markets

A pair of banks is testing new markets after hiring bankers. 

BankUnited in Miami Lakes, Fla., said in a press release Thursday that it opened a corporate banking office in Atlanta – its first location outside of Florida or New York. The $35.8 billion-asset company said the move is part of a “renewed effort” to expand beyond its core markets. 

The company hired Adam Gordon as its market executive and corporate banking team leader. Gordon previously served as a regional sales executive at PNC Financial Services Group, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

“As we grow our presence throughout the Southeast, BankUnited is looking forward to delivering our unique brand of relationship-driven banking solutions to middle-market and large companies doing business in the Atlanta metropolitan region,” Thomas Cornish, the company’s chief operating officer, said in the release. 

“Our office will serve as a hub for corporate banking and treasury management and commercial real estate lending and will serve as home base for our health care banking team,” Cornish added. 

BankUnited has also expanded into Dallas.

TC Bancshares in Thomasville, Ga., said it will enter Jacksonville, Fla., first with a commercial loan production office followed by a retail branch. 

Jeff Weeks to oversee the expansion. Weeks had been a commercial team leader at CenterState Bank, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

“TC Federal Bank has had lending relationships in the Jacksonville area for years,” Greg Eiford, the bank’s president and CEO, said in the release. 

“Many of the community banks in the Jacksonville area have been acquired by much larger institutions,” Eiford added. “We feel the market is primed for a new community bank.”