Prominent banker promoted to regional exec role

SARASOTA — Longtime area banker and business and civic community leader Shaun Merriman has been named regional president of CenterState Bank's West Florida unit.

The position is effective Jan. 1, 2018, according to a statement. Merriman will oversee the bank's operations in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota, and Manatee counties. He will also work closely with three other CenterState community presidents while continuing to maintain his current role as community president of the bank's Sarasota and Manatee offices. He will remain based in Sarasota, the release adds.

Merriman has been with the organization since March, when a merger between Gateway Bank of Southwest Florida, which Merriman founded in 2006, and Winter Haven-based CenterState closed. CenterState acquired Gateway Bank of Southwest Florida's parent unit, Gateway Financial Holdings of Florida, for $142 million. The deal translated to 1.85 times Gateway's core tangible book value and provided shareholders from when the bank was formed a return that roughly doubles the original investment. After recent acquisitions, CenterState will have more than $10 billion in assets.