- March 28, 2024
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Florida Bank Group, a Tampa-based institution trying to grow its presence statewide through a series of independent subsidiary banks, could be on the verge of a strategy shift.
The company recently let go six mangers, including Mike Worthington, a longtime Gulf Coast banking executive it brought in to run its Sarasota division early last year. The two-bank Sarasota unit, the first of which opened in January 2008 after officers raised about $18 million in capital, is now being run out of the holding company's downtown Tampa headquarters.
Worthington, reached at his Venice home March 16, confirmed that he and five senior leaders at the company were recently let go. He declined to comment further, citing his severance agreement.
Florida Bank Group chief executive Corey Coughlin didn't return several calls seeking comment and other bank executives couldn't be reached. In addition to Sarasota, Florida Bank Group has subsidiaries in St. Petersburg, Jacksonville and Tallahassee.
In previous interviews with the Review, Coughlin has said the company, despite any market fluctuations, hoped to continue being singularly focused on its main goal: To become a statewide network of banks that retain local management and local boards.