NewBridge launches middle-market group in Charlotte

NewBridge Bank said Friday it has launched a middle-market group in Charlotte to serve companies that generate $25 million to $250 million in annual revenue as the bank expands its commercial banking capabilities.

The Greensboro-based community bank said middle-market banking, its newest line of business, will be focused on companies across the Carolinas.

NewBridge CEO Pressley Ridgill said in a statement that his bank sees an opportunity at a time when the middle-market sector is being under-served as a result of bank consolidations and large, national banks' changing strategies.

The new banking group will be made of six people: five in Charlotte and one in a Greenville, S.C., office.

In Charlotte, Michael McMahan, formerly of Bank of America, will lead a team of bankers that have experience at Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

Thomas DeMint, who has worked for Bank of America and Wachovia, will work in the Greenville office.

NewBridge said it plans to expand the middle-market banking team in the region where the bank is headquartered as well as in the Triangle.

NewBridge has roughly $2.4 billion in assets and 40 branches in North Carolina.

The hiring of the middle-market team comes after the bank announced in April an expected 5 percent workforce reduction as it overhauls how it staffs its branches.