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SOURCE: Charlotte Business Journal
DATE: July 20th 2007
By: Will Boye |
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Chief Executive,
Cabarrus Bank & Trust
"People bank with people,
it's not about the name
of the bank at all."
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2007 Top 25 Women In Business
( Charlotte Business Journal )
Friday, July 20th 2007 - Concord, NC - When Pat Horton arrived at Cabarrus Bank & Trust in 2004, the startup community bank was barely a year old and unprofitable, heading toward a net loss of nearly $700,000 that year.
Leaving the security of First Charter Corp. was an agonizing decision. As Cabarrus Bank & Trust's new chief executive, Horton was tasked with leading the bank to profitability. She had an advantage, with Concord as her hometown, she could leverage her network to bring in the deposits and loans necessary to turn a profit.
In 2005, the bank reported its first full-year profit of $148.000, and in 2006 it more than doubled that to $359,000. The bank operates two branches, one in Concord and the other in Mt. Pleasant, and also increased its total assets to $84 million at the end of the first quarter, up 33% from a year earlier.
Horton is one of only three women that hold the president or chief executive title at banks headquartered in the state (United Partners Bank, a pro-posed bank in Charlotte, will also be led by a woman, Rose Washofsky, but it has not yet started operations.)
"I still think it's there to some degree," Horton says of the glass ceiling in the traditional male-dominated industry. "But I think it's cracked a little." Cabarrus Bank & Trust is part of Uwharrie Capital Corp, a holding company based in Albemarle that also owns Bank of Stanly and Anson Bank & Trust.
Horton 55, says the bank has grown through a grassroots effort that has doubled the number of customer relationships at Cabarrus Bank & Trust. The bank has hired employees with strong relationships in the community, she says, and benefits through referrals from directors and customers.
"People bank with people," she says. "It's not about the name of the bank at all."
She knows the people of Cabarrus well. Before joining the bank, Horton had spent 32 years working at First Charter and its predecessor Citizens National, working in a variety of areas including lending, credit administration, marketing and operations. In her last role, she managed the bank's most profitable customers and had become one of the only four women senior vice presidents at the company.
Her talents caught the eye of Uwharrie Chief Executive Roger Dick and Alex Rankin, a founding board member. Horton says she couldn't turn down the opportunity to manage a community bank in her hometown. But the decision to leave First Charter, a company she considered an extended family, was wrenching.
"It was the hardest thing I've ever done," she says.
Former First Charter Chief Executive Lawrence Kimbrough, a mentor to Horton, told her he didn't want her to leave but said whatever she decided, "I want you to know how proud I am of you," she recalls.
Today, Horton is proud of the charitable contributions Cabarrus Bank & Trust makes to the local community, which she estimates amount to 10% of its annual earnings.
She hopes to add two to three branches in the market over the next five years and looks forward to a renovation of the bank's executive offices on Church Street that's slated to begin in July.
Cabarrus Bank & Trust, part of the Uwharrie Capital Corp family, is a community-owned and operated bank created for the people and by the people of Cabarrus County. The Bank focuses solely on the financial needs of local citizens and businesses.
Branches are located at 25
Palaside Drive NE, Concord;
1490
South Main Street, Mt. Pleasant; and a commercial
loan office is at 700
Church Street North, Concord.
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