Florida banking CEO rings opening bell

PLANT CITY —Andrew Samuel, CEO of Sunshine Bank, was invited to ring the Opening Bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square Monday, according to a statement.

Founded in 1954, Sunshine Bank is a Plant City-based subsidiary of Sunshine Bancorp. In July, the bank acquired two branches of Lake City-based First Federal Bank of Florida.

That acquisition increased the bank's assets by nearly $250 million. As of Sept. 31, 2015, Sunshine Bank had more than $441 million in total assets, a 98% increase over 2014, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.