Amid one of the most tumultuous weeks ever in the U.S. financial industry, a South Carolina bank delivered some positive news to Rock Hill with the opening of a branch on Oakland Avenue.
The Palmetto Bank has managed to avoid the pitfalls facing larger institutions by keeping its focus on local customers, said bank president and Rock Hill native Andy Douglas.
"Do you want to stay as local as you can, or do you want to jump into a chain where there's so many more things going on?" Douglas asked in an interview. "We don't have subprime. We don't have crazy investments."
A ceremony Friday morning attracted 100 people to the corner of Oakland Avenue and Wilson Street, where the bank recently completed renovations at the old Carolina First building.
City Councilman Kevin Sutton cut a ribbon decorated with $5 bills that will be donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of York County.
The expansion into Rock Hill represents a homecoming for Douglas, who also serves as chief retail officer. Douglas grew up on Sedgewood Drive and started his career in 1975 in the same building where the branch operates. Back then, it was Rock Hill National Bank. Douglas will continue to live in Greenville. The branch manager in Rock Hill will be Liz Winterburn.
Founded in 1906, the Palmetto Bank is the fifth-largest independent state-chartered commercial bank in South Carolina with 29 locations in the Upstate.
