Qualified Survival

The three-year struggle to save LandMark Bank was so intense, CEO Tom Quale says his goal, past actually avoiding regulatory failure, was to not have heart failure while doing it.

Quale couldn't save the Sarasota-based bank, which state regulators closed July 22. The good news: Despite what he called a cave-like existence and a daily bombardment of stress, Quale didn't have a heart attack.

But while the bank didn't survive, Quale's banking career has been resuscitated. He's now market executive for the Sarasota branch of Orlando-based Seaside National Bank & Trust. Seaside, with 12 Florida locations, had $737.7 million in assets through Sept. 30, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. The 5-year-old bank turned a profit for the first time in August, and expects it will be profitable for the remainder of the year.