'Capital to Grow'

Local community bank executive Neil McCurry seemingly lives in a parallel universe from his industry brethren.

The evidence: McCurry has scored two major successes since 2007, a six-year period when most of his peers were in survival mode. A number of those peers didn't make it, which makes McCurry's triumphs more remarkable.

The first victory came in January 2007. That's when McCurry sold Sarasota-based People's Community Bank, which he founded in 1999 at 33 years old. McCurry and his team built People's into a $350 million asset bank in eight years, and, in a stroke of good timing, sold it right before the recession. Birmingham, Ala.-based Superior Bancorp bought People's in a deal worth $77 million, or 3.2 times book value. Superior has since failed, and was acquired by what's now Cadence Bank.