Independent Banker - February 2020 - 54

management and digital transformation.
" Like all banks nationwide, we're looking at
how to use digital to empower our personnel, "
Corbett says. " We're not just trying to buy
computers. We want to use the digital channel to
be more personal with our clients. "
A vibrant banking market
Corbett says CenterState is ready to face
competition and grab new opportunities in
Orlando, which he describes as one of the
" most vibrant banking markets in the country. "
He points to the area's credit unions as one
source of competition, noting that they tend
to be " incredibly aggressive " about purchasing
community banks. " That's a negative, " he says,
adding that he sees the inverted yield curve
and low interest rates as two of the outside
challenges for community banks.
Kevin Sacket, president at $234 million-asset
Sunrise Bank of Cocoa Beach, Fla., which has
operated in Orlando for a few years, is seeing
stiffer competition. " We have a few new upstart
players in the market and a number of other
banks all competing for the same business, "
he says. He sees commercial real estate as a
particularly strong aspect of the Orlando market,
where the bank is still carving out its niche.
" We're still a fairly new player in Orlando,
so we're really just focused on continuing to
penetrate that market, " Sacket says. " Our goal
is not to be a giant bank. I'm just hoping we can
have our capital leveraged by the end of next
year, and then we can start to focus more on
refining our business in that market versus just
growing it. "
Orlando's " countryside "
Greg Nelson, president and CEO of
$534 million-asset United Southern Bank in
Umatilla, Fla., likes to joke that the community
bank is located in the " countryside " of Orlando.
Situated about 45 miles from downtown
Orlando, the 82-year-old community bank
hasn't wavered from its original mission of
providing localized banking to area residents
and businesses. Nelson says that commitment
has served United Southern Bank well. " We're a
boring bank, but boring is good, " he adds.
Like Corbett, Nelson has noted more
competition from area credit unions recently,
both in terms of their branch presence and
their commercial lending activity. " I think all
of the independent community bankers will
understand this challenge, " says Nelson, whose
community bank has 12 Orlando-area locations.
" We're in a very competitive market, and it's
been this way for quite some time. "
Asked about the market's strong points,
Nelson points to residential lending as one of
his bank's biggest areas. " We also do a lot of
commercial lending, but residential has really
continued to bounce back in our area, " he says.
" That's been encouraging, and it hasn't gotten
out of control, although we are watching home
prices as they continue to climb. "
Dotherow says he's bullish on Winter
Park National Bank's growth prospects this
year, but he notes that he's watching outside
developments like the upcoming presidential
election and interest rates. " At this point, the
key challenge is interest rate compression.
With interest rates getting compressed closer
and closer to zero, the margins and spreads get
tighter and tighter. It's harder to make
money, " he adds.
" [orlando is one of the] most
vibrant banking markets in
the country. "
-john corbett, centerstate bank
54 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q February 2020
Despite the challenge, Dotherow
expects 2020 to be good for his
community bank. " I believe 2020 will
be a good growth year for the central
Florida market and for Florida's banking
environment as a whole, " he says, " and
we expect to have a good year. "
Bridget McCrea is a writer in Florida.
Independent Banker - February 2020

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