Moore Headquarters For New First Bank

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After an extended and sometimes rancorous war of words, shareholders of First Savings Bank of Moore County and Montgomery County-based First Bank have approved a merger of the two financial institutions.

Although the issue is settled on paper, some First Savings shareholders, who approved the merger by the thinnest of margins, will at least for a time continue to harbor resentment toward the leadership of the two banks.

Officials of the soon-to-be-combined banks should take immediate steps to allay the misgivings of First Savings shareholders and customers. A dramatic gesture of good will is clearly in order, and the ideal peace offering would be to move the new bank’s corporate headquarters to Moore County.

The holders of a bare majority of First Savings’ voting stock registered approval of the merger. But given the fact that so much of that stock was concentrated in the hands of bank directors and managers, it is quite apparent that a solid majority of individual shareholders voted negatively. One suspects that the opposition had less to with misgivings about whether this corporate marriage was a good business deal than with an understandable reluctance to see a locally owned and managed bank absorbed by a larger one with a home office in another locale. The establishment of a corporate headquarters in Moore would lessen that concern if not eliminate it entirely.

A Moore County corporate headquarters for the combined entity makes sense for several other reasons. First Bank is no stranger to this community. It has had a presence here for decades with numerous branch offices, and Moore will be the new bank’s biggest market. Jimmie Garner, who is chief executive officer of First Bank and will hold the same title with the merged bank, is a lifelong resident of Moore. Fully half of the new bank’s Board of Directors will be Moore County residents. And this county offers the level of wealth, cosmopolitan atmosphere, urban amenities, recreation facilities and access to business depositors that make it an attractive and highly marketable home for any corporate citizen.

And what better place for that corporate headquarters than the new golf village planned for Aberdeen by Pinehurst Inc? The village, on N.C. 5, will be a high-density, mixed-use development with a golf course, residential units, retail stores and offices. First Bank would be a natural as the village’s anchor office tenant. By taking up residence there, the bank would provide itself with a perfect location for meetings and the entertaining of corporate clients. More important, it would make a strong statement on behalf of wise, forward-looking land-use policy.

Wherever its home office, there is every reason to believe that the merged bank will retain its community focus and its small-town approach to doing business. First Savings Chairman Bill Samuels and President John Burns will serve as vice chairman and executive vice president, respectively, of the new First Bank.

The Board of Directors will include, in addition to Samuels and Burns, First Savings directors Virginia Brandt, David Bruton, Felton Capel, Frank Hardister and Tommy Phillips. These people, along with Garner, are not faceless corporate suits in charge of Engulf & Devour Bank of Wall Street. They are folks we know and trust and see at the Post Office and the Rotary Club. They are our friends, pillars of this community. When Frank Capra cast Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” these are the kind of people he had in mind.

The banking business has changed dramatically in recent years. Small, independent, hometown banks have to look to expand and consolidate with other financial institutions if they are to remain competitive with the huge, multi-state operations. But a smaller, regional bank can still survive and keep its focus on the communities it serves. The leaders of the new First Bank have pledged to do just that and to make a profit for shareholders. They deserve a chance to do that.