Independent Banker - July 2020 - 52

United Community Bank in Blairsville, Ga.-
and her banker of choice is Dawn Justus, its
vice president and relationship manager for
the greater Atlanta area.
" I would say that a big draw to United
Community Bank was her, " Wilbanks says,
" because I think women root for other women.
When I started the business, I think she
thought, 'This is never going to work, but I'm
not going to tell this poor girl that!' She rooted
for me. As a small business owner, when you
start out and you only have $400 that you
want to put in an account, most people would
laugh at you. She didn't, and that meant a lot
to me. She still believes in me to this day, and
now we're a multimillion-dollar company. "
Wilbanks' main challenge was finding
people to fund her fledgling business, and
United Community Bank came through
with a line of credit that started at $50,000.
" It was just nice because they knew us
personally, " she says. " They knew the
company, and most of the bankers shop
with us here in Gainesville, so I think they
believed in it and they wanted to see it grow. "
That line of credit allowed Wilbanks to
invest in equipment to build out a production
facility and, more recently, to expand the
business to a new location in Vinings, Ga. " I
don't know that I would have had as good an
experience with a large bank, because they
don't necessarily know you as well, " she says.
" My kids play ball with Dawn's kids. It's nice
to have that community feeling. "
When the COVID-19 crisis hit, Wilbanks
and Justus were calling and texting outside
of office hours. " We just have that kind of a
relationship, " Wilbanks says. " You need it at
a time like this more than ever. This is the
first crisis that we've ever been through. We
called Dawn the day after President Trump
made his first speech and said we need to
start figuring out what we need to do here.
So, we talked about the line of credit. We
talked about the SBA loans that she thought
would come through. We started getting our
game plan together at the very beginning. "
The results have exceeded expectations so
far. " We have not let anyone go, and we've
kept running, " Wilbanks says. " It's amazing.
It really is. "
52 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q July 2020
Southern comfort
Carrie Morey
Callie's Hot Little Biscuit, Charleston, S.C.
F
ifteen years ago, Carrie Morey took her mother's biscuit
recipe, added a generous helping of ambition and founded
Callie's Charleston Biscuits, which she has since rebranded.
Today, she sells products in more than 1,000 stores in U.S. and
Canada; has four Callie's Hot Little Biscuit eateries in Charleston,
S.C., Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta; and operates a food truck. She
also wrote a cookbook, Callie's Biscuits and Southern Traditions,
and operates an incubator with baking space and mentoring
opportunities for artisan food businesses. It's been a meteoric rise.
" It's crazy that we have gotten to this level, " Morey says. " My
eldest daughter was eight months old when we started the biscuit
business, and now she's 15 and a half. That's surreal to me. "
Morey has been working with banker Shannon Smoak for
more than a decade. Five years ago, Morey moved with Smoak
to $2.4 billion-asset Southern First Bank in Charleston, where
Smoak serves as a team leader and senior vice president.
" For me, " Morey says, " it's super important to have a
relationship with my banker and with a small bank. I have
Shannon on speed dial, and I'm positive that I would not have
the opportunities that I have had-whether it's buying property,
refinancing, additional lines of credit, expansion-without this
Independent Banker - July 2020

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