Southeast regional bank names new president for Florida

Greenville, South Carolina-based United Community Bank has named veteran banker Sharon Thompson head of Florida operations. 

Thompson will be based in Orlando and oversee the whole state, except for some of the Panhandle locations. The bank, with $23.7 billion in assets through Sept. 30, has one office each in Tampa, Sarasota and Naples. In an email, a spokesperson for the bank says “Florida is such an incredibly important part of United Community” and the bank's services in the state include commercial real estate, middle market lending, franchise and SBA lending. The bank posted 14% loan growth in the state last year, the spokesperson says, and plans to grow at least 7% this year. 

Formerly the East Atlanta President for the bank, Thompson steps into the Florida president role after her predecessor, Gideon Haymaker, announced his retirement last month, according to a statement.